A friend of mine keeps telling me I need to have faith, and I suppose he's right, but I'm not sure what it means. Can you give me a simple definition of faith? — C.L.

Faith simply means believing that something is true, and then committing our lives to it. In the Bible, "faith" means believing in God, and in what Christ has done for us to make our salvation possible—and then committing ourselves to Him.

In other words, faith has two parts to it, and both are equally important. The first part is belief—belief that God exists, and that He loves us and sent His Son into the world to save us. Faith isn't a vague hope that God might exist; it is a definite belief that what the Bible says about Him is true. The Bible says, "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).

The second part of faith is commitment—a definite decision not only to believe in our minds that Christ can save us, but to put our lives into His hands and trust Him alone for our salvation. True faith not only believes Christ can save us, but actually trusts Him to do it. The Bible says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith" (Ephesians 2:8).

Be thankful for your friend; he cares about you knows your life will be far better if you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. But most of all, God cares about you, and He wants you to trust Him and come to know Him. By a simple prayer of faith turn to Christ and ask Him to come into your life and change it—and He will.