Some people misunderstand faith. When they see great accomplishments made by men of faith, they think, "I'm going to do something like that." There is nothing wrong with this kind of inspiration. But when they try to do what somebody else did without being on the same faith level, they will probably fail.

One time, as God was dealing with me about faith, He said, "Son, when you started taking flying lessons, you didn't begin in a 747. You started by flying a little airplane that wasn't much faster than a lawn mower with wings. Why? Because you weren't ready for a 747." It wouldn't have worked for me to say, "I can do all things through Christ, so I'll start out flying the 747."

I was working with Kenneth Copeland when he gave away his $38,000 airplane because he needed funds to pay for his television ministry. About eleven days later, someone gave him the money to purchase a bigger airplane and pay cash for the television production.

Immediately I thought, "I'm going to do that!" There was only one problem with my thinking that way: God's Word was not the motivating factor for me as it was for Brother Copeland. I didn't have enough Word in me to do what he did. Fortunately, I had enough sense to wait until my faith grew.

Eventually, I developed my faith to the level of selling an airplane and giving all the money from the sale to different ministries. Because I was prompted by the Word and the Holy Spirit, not by someone's testimony, and God blessed me with another airplane!

As a believer, you start out as a spiritual baby with limitations. When you spend time in the Word, faith comes.

As your faith increases, your limitations decrease. You notice that the things which seemed impossible six months before have become possible. Your faith has grown.

Source: The Nature of Faith by Jerry Savelle.
Excerpt permission granted by Jerry Savelle Ministries