The same thing, says the Chazon Ish, applies to emunah. There are countless levels—one above the other. Those on a low level of emunah are still considered believers—so long as they’re not deniers. One doesn’t become a denier if he is on a low level of emunah. But this is why we must speak about emunah often—because someone who is on a low level of emunah will tend to use his emunah only for the “big things” and not for the daily events in his life.
Says the Chazon Ish: You want proof that even on a lower level of emunah, you will still be considered a ma’amin?! If you’re faced with a great aveirah, R”l, and you withhold from transgressing it thanks to your ingrained emunah, then you’re obviously a ma’amin! The emunah dominates you! It doesn’t allow you to do certain things, because the Jewish People are believers!
But the stronger the emunah is in the heart, the more it will control the person, to change the way he thinks, the way he talks, the way he sighs, and the way he processes difficult events.
This yesod essentially is brought in many sefarim hakdoshim, but the Chazon Ish expresses the point with this explanation that emunah is like a middah—which means that it has no end. This enables us to understand that we can never say about a person that he doesn’t need any chizuk in emunah, because whatever level of emunah he is on, he can always advance. The sky is truly the limit.
