"Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified." 2 Corinthians 13:5



We know that GOD puts obstacles in our way at times in order to test our faith. At times, GOD's tests as well as satan's temptations can seem ipossible to overcome, however if you have faith, know that GOD would never allow any test or temptation to be so severe that we could not get through it. Faith is the key and trust is the vehicle.



God tests us and satan tempts us but I agree with Paul's statement above, we must also constantly test ourselves. In order to grow spiritually, we should challenge our own faith in order to strengthen it. Everything in our lives that we strive to get better at, such as sports, relationships. skills or our jobs requires practice and pushing ourselves to go a little further each time we do it. The same principle applies to our faith. By pushing it, we strengthen it.



There are various ways to challenge our faith. For me, I usually choose fasting. I recently went on a forty day fast (inspired by Jesus'  forty day fast when He encountered satan) where I wouldn't eat from sun up till sun down. As I am a restauranteur, sometimes this challenge was a bit difficult but instead of eating, I would pray instead. To my surprise, I felt my faith grow a little bit as a result and I plan on doing it again soon.



The challenges we put ourselves through don't have to be severe but like with anything, to challenge ourselves is to better ourselves in the eyes of the LORD.