Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the end result of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:8-9

There is a beautiful paradox that exists within the Christian life—loving someone we’ve never physically seen. The reality is, none of us have seen Jesus physically, yet our love transcends the physical world—it is rooted in a deep joy beyond words that comes from pure faith. This demonstrates how faith can create deeper love, trust, and peace than physical sight sometimes can.

Oftentimes, we pray to God for a sign, seeking physical proof for what our hearts already know to be true. We search, we ask, we look around, yet the proof is actually right there, deep inside of us—a blessing that comes from believing without seeing. There is an inexpressible and glorious joy that comes from this kind of faith—believing without seeing—because it is proof of the end result of our faith. The salvation of our souls is the precious prize we receive when we honor not what is in sight in front of us, but what is nestled deep within our hearts.

The gift of salvation is both a present reality and a future completion as we continue to deepen our relationship with Christ through faith, love, and joy. If we can deeply believe in Jesus—for all He did for each of us—and love Him so purely, fully, and wholeheartedly without seeing Him, then it is proof of how powerful it is to live by faith and not by sight.

When we apply this same faith to all other areas of life—seeking a new job, meeting the love of our lives, fulfilling great dreams—then our faith becomes the foundation that leads us to receiving even greater joy when the physical world catches up. We can look back and say, ‘We believed it would happen all along, even when we couldn’t see.’