Apathy: The Silent Faith Killer

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Start the Day Right

In the quiet of the morning I wipe the sleep from my eyes and greet my Father. “Good morning, Lord.” 

This may seem strange. To some, it may even be cause for a psychiatric evaluation, but I believe that God is there, listening, waiting, and longing for me to acknowledge Him in my life. 

Beyond this, I also believe that He is waiting for me to listen to Him and wants me to long for Him as He longs for me. This is my relationship with God. 

In the bad times I can call on Him and He gives me strength, but I need Him even more in the good times than in the bad. Why? Because in the good times I run the chance of forgetting; I run the chance of becoming apathetic. 

Apathy Leads to Hard Hearts

Apathy is a silent killer of faith. It allows us to ignore the obvious and dismiss the good things and special people in our lives without second thought. Apathy does not just happen. It builds slowly, like a scab across our consciousness. 

First, we forget to be thankful. Gratitude reminds us who we are in comparison to who God is. He is our savior, our healer, our friend, and our Holy Father. He has provided all we have need of and is the one who takes delight in actively blessing us. When we forget to be grateful we forget to acknowledge all God has done, all He is doing, and all He can do. 

Then, when there is no gratitude, we turn from compassion. We were once aware of the active grace of God in our lives, but since we have left our gratitude behind we now forget how far we have come. Now when we see someone who is desperate, lost, hurt, and in need of love, we are no longer moved. We do not feed the widow or the orphan any more. Instead we walk in our own righteousness, and say callous things like “get a job” or “it’s their own fault”. We feel superior to others and we lose the one thing that set us apart from everyone else: love. 

Finally, after the gratitude is gone, and the compassion of Christ is almost non-existent in our lives, then indifference to God begins. After all, we have relied on our good fortune and ourselves for so long, why do we need to acknowledge God at all? Perhaps, in our prosperity and wholeness we forget that we are truly poor in spirit and broken. We trade the truth of our need for God for a lie (that we are fine without Him). Apathy has set in and now only tragedy will shake us. 

We see it in the Bible over and over with the children of Israel. Recently we saw it in 9-11. For a moment we forgot our quarrels, we forgot our agendas, and we came together: grateful that we were still here, and we called on God for guidance and help. 

So I say “good morning, Lord” and I will be grateful every day because I can never go back to the way I was without God. I will strive to maintain an attitude of gratitude, a soft heart toward my fellow man, and a humble nature that says “there but for the grace of God go I”. I will personally and publically acknowledge the God of the Universe in every aspect of my life. I may sound crazy to some, but to God this is the sound of my worship. 

Join the Conversation

What are you grateful for today?

Why We are Called to Love

Carelessness Has No Place in the Body of Christ

Christians cannot live carelessly. Living by happenstance and circumstance is not the way for us as believers. Jesus said that trouble (happenstance) will come in this world, but He had overcome the world.


Carelessness is really apathy, and Webster’s online defines apathy as “lack of feeling or emotion, lack of concern: indifference.”


Living a careless life, an indifferent life, is in direct conflict with God’s overall plan for us.

God’s Plan:

His plan is that no man should perish, that all would come to Him, and He needs us to actively show the love of Christ to the world so that the world would be drawn unto Him.


Matthew 5:14 says “You are the light of the world; a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid!”


Where there is light, there is no darkness. Where there is light there is life. Where there is light, the Father of lights is there. We are the City on a Hill; we are the light of the world. If we do not shine, if our light dims, darkness and death will fall. Dank death will rain down and what Jesus did on the cross would be for nothing.


Luke 1:9 says Christ came for this purpose: “To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Our Purpose:

As Christ followers, we are supposed to carry on where Christ left off.


If we do not see the orphan, if we walk past the widow, if we do not feed the hungry and we do not share our cloak with someone who is cold, how can we say we walk and abide in the love of Christ?


We cannot stand by and watch the world perish. We must be more attentive and live with purpose, not carelessness and apathy.


Sister Teresa said this:

“Do not think that love - in order to be genuine - has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

We are supposed to get full of love, and grow mature fruit so that we can empty our lives and our love into other people. To do this is the law of Christ: Love one another!

Call to Action:

Has someone shown you genuine love before? Share how in the comments below. 

Now, find a way to pass that love along to someone new - who needs it just like you did – and who through that love will see Jesus in you.

Waiting: Pit Stop or Serving Time?

Okay- I think everyone will admit to being in this place at one time or another. You rarely like it, probably do not appreciate it, and may even get frustrated by having to be there longer than you expected....

It is that waiting place.

That place where you know you have been praying about something, but have not heard a clear yes or no. That place where sometimes you may not even know what to pray for or how to pray. That place reveals your level of trust and fellowship with God.

Ouch. Close to home? It is for me.

Will you worship him even though it seems as if there is nothing happening? Will you be ready to move when he says go here, or stay there? Will you have you prayer life in order, your finances, and your family?

How many times have we missed the perfect will of God for our lives because of a lack of preparation? It comes down to what we do in this place called waiting.

"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

Does this mean sit on our duff and do nothing? No.

Wait means serve- it is an active verb. If you do not think so, look at your waiter next time you go into a restaurant. As he/she waits on you, they are working.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles- soaring above the turbulence and getting a different perspective... a bird's eye view... to their life and the circumstances around them.

They shall run and not be weary- life is a marathon... Paul said to press toward the mark...he ran his race...will you run yours?

They shall walk and not faint- Wow- our walk with Jesus can be a hard one. He said we would be hated for his namesake, but that we are also able to do what he did and so much more thanks to the Holy Spirit. 

Our walk may be hard, but there is restoration and healing along the way. We will not faint (fall out of our walk) if we hold tight to his love and rest in his goodness.

This place called waiting- it should not be a place of frustration, but of preparation and dedication. 

Focus in on the prize- our Lord- and all the rest will fall into place. If your treasure is anywhere else, then this place called waiting will be a pit stop on the road to stagnation and apathy.

What have you been waiting for?