Enigma?

July 18, 2006 · Posted in For His glory 

I have been pondering faith today and came up with a question for you all. I will tell you my thoughts after the question then leave it up to you to set me straight or confirm my theory. Here is the Dictionary.com definition of faith:

faith
n.

1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See Synonyms at belief. See Synonyms at trust.
3. Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one’s supporters.
4. often Faith Christianity. The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God’s will.
5. The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.
6. A set of principles or beliefs.

My question is this. Is faith something you are naturally born with or is it something you develop?

I think it is actually a little of both, and no that is not a cop out. I think we are all born with a little faith in us and through out our lives we can either develop it or squash it like a bug. Children have some faith in us at first but it develops over time. When they are in infancy they tend to get fussy when they see their parent leave the room. More than likely they are afraid that they won’t come back. I think this because over time they don’t react this way as quickly when we go out of the room. They learn that we will come back, they have “faith” that we will return.

In this day and age where everything has to be in your face it is hard to get a grasp on faith. Especially when it comes to faith in Someone you can’t see or touch. This is one of the hardest things about Christianity to me. I have grown up being taught that if you can’t see, feel, or smell it, than it isn’t true. I find that I am having to contradict things that are taught to my children in school because the schools aren’t allowed to teach anything that is based on faith. Eventually I will have to get a second job and send them to a private Christian school as the public schools are becoming puppets of the ACLU.

I see I am starting to veer off track so I will stop and re-ask my question of you. Faith, are you born with it or do you develop it?

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Comments

3 Responses to “Enigma?”

  1. Linda says:
    7/18/2006 at 6:20 am

    Will need a fresh cuppajoe for this Jeff, so I’ll return here a bit later. Thank goodness you posted, I was wondering if you were ok. But if you were busy pondering religion, I guess it was time better spent than on here harrassing us ;-)

  2. Linda says:
    7/18/2006 at 6:48 am

    Mmmm. Nothing like caffeine to jolt the gray matter into action…
    Unfortunately, I don’t know enough Scripture to base my thinking on here, so I’m relying on logic and experience ;-)
    I think that we’re all born with an innate (redundant, sorry)need to believe in something. Trust is a quality we develop early when we learn (hopefully)that a caretaker indeed will appear when summoned. That trust, or a degree, of it must be nurtured to remain intact. I’m assuming here that trust and faith may be used interchangeably. They are close to the same thing as far as I am concerned. But I really don’t think that we’re born with faith in God. The existence of God or a similar deity must be introduced and then, assuming that one believes, that faith needs to be nurtured much like trust. And each of us in our own way, often determined by life experiences will develop that faith/trust. Many are of the thinking that if it can’t be seen or felt, etc., etc. but I feel that God does speak to us, shows us things, etc. Some “feel” the Spirit.
    But if I did decide or discover that we are born with a faith in God, I think that would be way cool. I can’t believe how many people I come across who simply do not believe. That frightens me and makes me sad that there are people out there with no hope.
    I’m anxious to hear your thoughts on this.

  3. Becky says:
    7/18/2006 at 7:08 pm

    I think it’s something we develop and it’s still unique, since it’s based upon our individual surroundings and circumstances.