What is your faith worth when it demands a real sacrifice?

I often find myself wondering what faith looks like when choosing it is no longer simple, when it demands something real from us. This question follows me every time I return to England after our mission trips. My time with North Korean Christians has profoundly reshaped the way I view my own faith. It has awakened me to one undeniable truth: faith is only genuine when it costs something.

For North Koreans, professing faith in Christ is a matter of life and death. Their decision is anything but easy, yet it is in that very cost that they recognise their faith as true. It asks for what is most precious. It demands their freedom. For some, it requires their lives.

It’s easy to claim faith when it comes with comfort, when it promises blessings and ease. Presented that way, faith becomes a convenient choice. But biblical faith has never been convenient. Jesus taught a very different path. It calls you to leave everything behind and follow the One who gave everything for you. It requires total surrender, the willingness to give your life to something far greater than yourself. It asks you to lose your life and follow Christ faithfully— not just when the road is smooth, but when it is difficult, when declaring yourself His follower is the last thing you feel able to do.

So the question remains: what is your faith worth when it begins to cost you something?