Genuine or Authentic Faith Exercised

A note: Today, I’m honored and excited to feature the Reverend Dr. Anthony Hodge as a guest on my blog. Dr. Hodge is a retired U.S. Navy Chaplain and a certified spiritual director who also has extensive training in Christian counseling. He and his wife, the Reverend Dr. Sheila Elliott Hodge, are active United Methodist clergy serving in the South Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, and he is the superintendent of the Rock Hill District. Dr. Hodge is an advocate for personal transformation and believes it is never too late for anyone to change, provided the individual is intentional and wholeheartedly embraces the process of transformation for one's life. Dr. Hodge has authored two books: A Better You: Christian Life Beyond Negative Thinking and Can You Get Better? Sure You Can! 14 Approaches Guaranteed to Help You Become a Better You.—Jessica

By the Reverend Dr. Anthony Hodge

I am convinced I would not have had the experiences I have encountered in my life had I not exercised genuine or authentic faith. When I reference genuine or authentic faith, I am referencing living my life through the words that are contained in Hebrews 11:1 and 6:

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

— Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

— Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Whether it was an attainment personally, academically, or vocationally, it did not occur without me exercising genuine or authentic faith.

Prior to elaborating on Hebrews 11:1 and 6, I want to share what I mean about genuine or authentic faith. For me, exercising genuine or authentic faith is being aware that as a human being I am limited, but I serve a God who is unlimited.

My thought process and even my actions will never come close to what God knows and is able to do for me.

Yet I still have a role to play even as a person of faith. My role, as it continues to be revealed to me, is to trust in the God who was instrumental in establishing humanity and all the good that humanity is privy to.

Thus, I have lived with the mindset that if I wanted to accomplish anything personally, academically, or vocationally, I would approach that thing with the confidence and assurance that if it is something that God desires for me to have, it would come to fruition.

I have experienced firsthand that my faith in a God I have never seen personally is able to assist me with anything I seek if God desires for me to have it.

At this phase of my life, no one can tell me anything contrary to what I have experienced. That is, I know that God is real. I don't even have to be a super Christian to be on the receiving end of blessings from God.

Based upon my experiences over my lifetime and my understanding of Scripture, God will be faithful to those who have faith in God.

When I consider what I have shared thus far, it takes me back to my pre-seminary days. Better yet, I can go back even further than that. I can recall exercising genuine or authentic faith as early as age seventeen when I desired to enter the United States Navy. I also recall another instance of exercising genuine or authentic faith while struggling a few years later after enlisting in the United States Navy.

Exercising genuine or authentic faith did not end in my young adult years. As I approach sixty years of age, I am able to recall numerous occasions where I have been on the receiving end of God's blessings as a result of my faith in God.

Whether you consider yourself to be a biblical scholar or not, God will respond to your genuine or authentic faith. I am living proof that one does not even have to be seminary trained to be a benefactor of God's ongoing blessings.

I want to encourage anyone exposed to this written correspondence to have confidence in the same God I have referenced. In no way am I the first person nor will I be the last person to exercise genuine or authentic faith. I am just grateful that I am able to share that what God has done for me and so many others, God will do for you as well.

This is why I include in my book Can You Get Better? Sure You Can! 14 Approaches Guaranteed to Help You Become a Better You a section specifically to help persons be intentional about caring for their souls.

When we are intentional about caring for our souls, we will exercise genuine or authentic faith.

The Reverend Dr. Anthony Hodge is a retired US Navy Chaplain and a certified spiritual director who also has extensive training in Christian counseling. Additionally, he and his wife, the Reverend Dr. Sheila Elliott Hodge, are active United Methodist Clergy serving in the South Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. Dr. Hodge is an advocate for personal transformation and believes that it is never too late for anyone to change, provided the individual is intentional and wholeheartedly embraces the process of transformation for one's life. Dr. Hodge is the author of two books, Can You Get Better? Sure You Can!: 14 Approaches Guaranteed to Help You Become a Better You and A Better You: Christian Life Beyond Negative Thinking, both available on Amazon.