Trusting the Character of God: What It Means to Believe

This week we began our “Spiritually Formed” series with Jesus’ repeated question: “Do you believe?” The teaching reminded us that belief isn’t primarily about rules, perfection, or total certainty—it’s about trusting the character of God, even when we feel like we’re “floating in the air” with real doubts.

This Week’s Sermon: Believing

Key Takeaways

• Belief is not the same as rule-following; following Jesus forms the heart so that a moral life grows from love, not pressure.
• Belief is not perfection; it’s ongoing trust and dependence on God, even after decades of faith.
• Belief is not certainty or knowledge; God is bigger than what we can figure out, and faith can include unanswered questions.
• trusting the character of God means turning toward Jesus in the middle of fear, doubt, and weakness.
• Repentance is an ongoing practice of rethinking our lives—returning to relationship with God and love for others.

Sermon Highlights: Trusting the Character of God

If you’ve ever wished your faith felt simpler, cleaner, more certain—you’re not alone. Many of us carry the quiet pressure to “have it together”: to believe without questions, to live without mistakes, to feel confident without fear. And yet real life has a way of putting us in midair—between what we can control and what we can’t—wondering what will catch us.

This week, as we began our new series Spiritually Formed, we heard Jesus’ repeated question: Do you believe? Not as a threat. Not as a test you can fail. As an invitation into something deeper—trusting the character of God.

Big Idea of This Week’s Teaching

Being spiritually formed starts with belief—but belief isn’t rule-keeping, perfection, or certainty. Spiritual formation begins when we practice trusting the character of God, turning toward Jesus again and again, even with honest doubts.

Key Scriptures

• Mark 1:15 — Jesus begins his ministry with a clear invitation: the kingdom of God is near; “repent and believe the good news.” Repentance was described as “rethinking” our lives—an ongoing return to God.
• Mark 9:23–24 — When a desperate father asks for help, Jesus says “Everything is possible for one who believes,” and the father replies, “I believe; help my unbelief.” This became a central picture of faith that is real, imperfect, and honest.
• John 11:25–26 — Jesus tells Lazarus’ family, “I am the resurrection and the life… Do you believe this?” Even close friends who loved Jesus were still invited deeper into trust.
• Matthew 22:36–40 — When asked for the greatest commandment, Jesus centers faith in relationship: love God with your whole self, and love your neighbor as yourself.

1. Trusting the character of God begins with Jesus’ question

Jesus asked it to people who wanted healing, to disciples who had walked with him for years, to grieving friends standing at a graveside: Do you believe? The point wasn’t to shame them into the “right answer.” It was to bring belief out of autopilot and into the heart.

That’s part of what spiritual formation looks like: letting Jesus lovingly press on the places where faith has become assumed, inherited, or purely intellectual. Not to condemn us—but to draw us closer.

2. Trusting the character of God is not rules, perfection, or knowledge

The sermon named three common misunderstandings of belief—and why they don’t hold up in real life.

First, belief is not simply following rules. Rules can matter, but a life with God is not meant to be a checklist. The teaching shared an example of trying to perfect morality through disciplined self-improvement, only to discover how exhausting and impossible it can feel. The takeaway was freeing: following rules is not the same as following Jesus.

Second, belief is not perfection. That’s good news for anyone who feels tired, guilty, or behind. Even a long life of faith doesn’t produce flawless people—it produces dependent people. People who know they need God. People who keep returning.

Third, belief is not knowledge or certainty. Many of us chase certainty because being human can feel so uncertain. But God is not small enough to be fully understood. And spiritual formation isn’t about having every answer—it’s about learning to live with trust when answers don’t come.

Trusting the character of God doesn’t require certainty—it requires turning toward Jesus in the middle of real life.

In other words, trusting the character of God is sturdier than trusting your own performance, clarity, or control.

3. Trusting the character of God like a child trusts a parent

One of the most memorable images from the message was a dad catching his toddlers as they jumped from the stairs—asking, “Will you catch me?” That moment in the air is a picture of faith. We all live there sometimes: between the step we left and the ground we haven’t touched yet.

And that’s where trust is formed—not when we feel certain, but when we choose to lean into who God is.

That’s why the father’s prayer in Mark 9 feels so honest: “I believe; help my unbelief.” It gives words to the mixed reality many of us carry: faith and fear, hope and hurt, trust and trembling—together.

Faith can coexist with weakness, because Jesus honors our dependence and meets us with hope.

trusting the character of God doesn’t require a doubt-free life. It requires a turned-toward-Jesus life.

4. Trusting the character of God leads to repentance and love

If belief is trust, what do we do with that trust? Jesus’ first call in Mark 1 is clear: “Repent and believe.”

Repentance was described as a logical, ongoing practice—rethinking our lives. Reconsidering what we’re forming ourselves around. Releasing resentments and bitterness. Rethinking how we treat people. Returning to what is truly life-giving.

And Jesus keeps it simple in Matthew 22: love God, and love others. Not as a new rule system, but as a relationship-shaped life. The teaching invited us to pray this as a daily practice during Lent: a wholehearted love that becomes a commitment—not just a feeling.

Practicing This Week

1. Pray once a day: “Jesus, help me practice trusting the character of God today.”
2. Name one place you’re seeking certainty and offer it to God—without forcing a quick answer.
3. Practice repentance as rethinking: choose one habit, resentment, or judgment to reconsider this week.
4. Pray the love-centered prayer daily: love God with your whole self, and love your neighbor as yourself.
5. When doubt rises, borrow the father’s prayer: “I believe; help my unbelief.”

Questions for Reflection

1. When you hear Jesus ask, “Do you believe?” what rises in you—peace, fear, resistance, longing?
2. Where have you confused faith with rule-following, perfection, or certainty?
3. What does living without certainty look like in your life right now?
4. What might repentance-as-rethinking look like for you this Lent?
5. How could you practice trusting God’s character in one specific relationship or decision this week?

The good news is not that you can achieve perfect faith. The good news is that Jesus has come near—and the veil is torn. You are invited into relationship with God, now and forever. So if your faith feels small, mixed, or unfinished, you’re still welcome at the table. This Lent, may you find steady hope—not by having every answer, but by practicing trusting the character of God, one honest step at a time.