Help me have Faith!!!!!

[JoyG]

To be honest with you all.....I'm afraid not to believe.

I'm afraid that bad things will come to me and that I will go to "Hell" (if there is such a place). I do think Religion is a business as is everything else in this world. I just want more to have "faith". To feel better spiritually and to not be afraid anymore. I can't possibly teach my kids about God if I'm not truly a believer. That would be hypocritical of me. My in laws are very Religious and bother me about teaching my kids about God. They think I'm a bad person cuz I don't pray. I grew up going to Catholic school and it never meant anything to me. My parents never went to church or taught us about God either so blame it on my upbringing I guess.
Also, my children are Orthodox and at their church they take communion from a community cup and it grosses me out. Everyone sharing the same cup!!! I don't want them to get communion but have my inlaws pressuring me.
ugghhhh!!!!

I think you're talking about two seperate things; faith and religion. Sounds like you're looking for faith but have "issues" with religion. So I'd suggest seperating the two. Build your faith first by reading the Bible.

Once you've found your faith you can decide which denomination (religion) you'd like to join. And for the record, in Baptist churches you get your own little cup to drink communion from. (shameless plug)

 

[Camicar]

After much thought on this topic, I think part of the issue with trying to find faith is that it's one of those things that if you have to work that hard, you need to stop and think about it why you think it is necessary. And if what you seek is compatible with who you are inherently.

For example, if you are by nature a person who views life logically and seeks explanations and causal factors, then faith may be very difficult to achieve, if it is possible at all because faith is, essentially, illogical and without explanation. If you are that type of person, trying to use faith, for example, to justify the fact that God is credited with all blessings bec he is omnipotent but he is not blamed for all bad things bec he just can't be blamed for it, just doesn't wash and never will. We will never know whether or not the Bible is the real word of God or if it's just the Judeo-Christian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh -- in other words a reallly great story written to help us make sense of the world and our place in it. If you absolutely have to know beyond reasonable doubt, then faith is and probably always be insufficient for you.

 

[lukenick1]

I'm definitely a pessimist and always will be so maybe I'm not meant to have faith. I'm just scared of not having it.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I'm definitely a pessimist and always will be so maybe I'm not meant to have faith. I'm just scared of not having it.

I think the fact that you are even thinking about faith and worried about it gives you a possibility of accepting it.


One thing, though, is that NO ONE should pressure you into faith or a specific religion until you are darn good and ready. I'm guessing you are raising your children Catholic or they at least go to a Catholic school. I married into a very Catholic family that was all about pressuring me to be them and follow the Catholic life. I still haven't converted but looking around deciding if that's what I want but I had the background of being raised with faith.

There is some classes you can take with in the church. It's the classes you can take before you take the RCI classes to convert. I don't know what the real name of the class is because we always call it stump the priest and boy I have asked all kinds of questions but he has always been gracious in answering.

You said you are afraid not to believe because of after life but I find that alot of people are afraid because it's unknown for lack of better word. Yes, we have classes and church and books but ultimately we don't know what the end is. It's a leap of chance/faith. One thing to think about is if you believe in miracles? I decided early on that I completely believe in miracles and believing in miracles is an act of faith because it is also unexplainable.

I hope you find the answers you are looking for and you can always have faith with no religion and sometimes you have to find the fit of religion and it very well may not be the Catholic faith, nothing wrong with that.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Lukenick,

This I can tell you for certain...

Believers are not 'afraid'!!!!

I do not know of anyone who believes in God because this brings fear into their life!!!! True faith will overcome fear.

They say that the two base human emotions are fear and love.
God is LOVE.

You say that you are afraid to NOT believe. You mention HELL. I will tell you this... (and this has been the topic of a recent thread) I do NOT believe in hell, as most people refer to it. This is after prayerful research.

Very simply, the wages of sin is 'death'.
The gift from God is everlasting life.
Life or Death.
Period.

Please PM me personally if you would like more info on this subject.

To you I will say that anybody who is preaching fear and condemnation instead of love and redemption, they are not preaching the true WORD.

Read Genesis.... (one section at a time... ponder it...) this will give you the whole gist of the almight creator, and creation, and how we have become separated from God.

Then, read the New Testament. Maybe John, as others have recommended.

Perhaps others here can recommend some more basic, non religious, but spiritual Christian books for you.

If you listen for God's WORD, and you humble yourself.. "Lean not unto thine own understandings..." This might be the way to find what you are hoping for. This is the very thing that separates us from GOD... Human nature is flawed because we indulged in the "knowledge of good and evil" "thinking of ourselves as gods". We want to stand upon our own flawed understandings.

To close, I notice you say that you are afraid to NOT believe. I am thinking that possible, like most people, you truly are equally afraid TO believe!

It takes a lot of fear to humble yourself and subject yourself to this kind of belief and power. We as human beings are all about individual freedom and individual power. We are, on some level, egotistical and vain people. Why would we want to submit to some power or authority who we just know will tell us that we are all wrong????

Well, as a born again Christian, I can tell you that it is NOTHING like that!!! Believing brings love, and truth. (not fear and unsurity)

I have heard a favorite saying that Christianity is not a 'hope so' religion. It is a 'know so' religion.
(faith - knowledge and belief in something unseen)

Consider the WORD. "And I say these words so that ye shall KNOW that ye have everlasting life."


(note; all reference to Scripture here are very loosely paraphrased - but true to the original words and meanings)

 

[Buckalew11]

Good post, Wishing!

Believing out of fear could never be a good thing, IMHO. It would also not be good or healthy to tell your kids that kind of thing. A healthy fear of God is not a bad thing but to be scared into loving Him is not.

 

[christineann]

Some of my favorite books are:

The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (I like all of his books)

Who Needs God and You Don't Have to be Perfect by Rabbi Harold Kushner (and every book he has written)

 

[SwedishMeatball]

I wouldn't want to be drawn to God out of fear. Good luck in your search and I hope you find peace.

 

[DemonLlama]

Some of my favorite books are:

The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (I like all of his books)

I was going to suggest this one, as well as C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity and Josh McDowell's More Than a Carpenter.

The last one in particular is an easy read, very approachable, and deals with just such doubts and questions as the ones you are interested in.

God will always honor honest searching. And He is big enough to handle every doubt we have. Ask and you shall receive.

 

[Cool-Beans]

You believe or you don't. You can't will yourself to believe in God or will yourself not to.

If you're looking for a church that seems to fit your beliefs, just do a little research.

I always tell people who are on the fence to go take a class or two in Anatomy & Physiology. If anything ever cemented my belief in God, it was A&P. The human body is an amazing thing. No accident there. Something created it. We've spent all of history trying to figure it out and we're still just scratching the surface!

I honestly don't know how anyone could study science and not come out believing in God. I know people do, I just don't know how.

 

[Pop Daddy]

The Bible says Faith comes by "hearing' so listen to some good preachers, I mean really listen, and ask God to give you faith. Its that simple, here are some good preachers http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/

 

[SplshMtn99]

I am not a religous person and would like to be but I have had many doubts about religion in general. I even have doubt about God. What does it take to believe? I know this will most likely be a heated topic but I'm looking for guidance without being judged. I felt this is a good place to talk about seeing you all don't know me and will not talk smack about me to my neighbors and friends.
Can anyone of you christians help me believe?
How do we really know that God exists if we haven't seen him with our own eyes? How do we know the bible wasn't made up? Why do people with true faith get sick and die of diseases like cancer? Why are we made scared of NOT believeing?
Thanks to those who have something to help.

Over the years, I've had some trouble with my Catholic upbringing. And lately, I feel I could have written your post myself.

I am not Christian but jewish...I'd like to give my perspective on this...I have AIDS a really nasty disease... In Jan my DH had an Aortic Dissection, emergency open heart surgery and almost died...He spent 9 weeks in the hospital... My Mother has renal Cancer... My brother has skin cancer and sarcoidosis...I've had to come to grips with the fact that both Ed and I will probably die young.
I don't believe G-d gave me AIDS. I don't believe he gave my family these illnesses..I believe we are imperfect humans with free will and bodies prone to sickness... As such we get sick..We have accidents, and sometimes others use their free will to do horrible things to us..
I believe that G-d is up there crying WITH us when these things happen..I can't reconcile a loving G-d with one who gives illness , and causes death and murder. I don't believe the It's *all part of his plan* idea...I can't concieve of any acceptable plan that allows for the rape and murder of a little girl or the deaths of 3000 people in their office building..If G-d wants to *teach* us something there are other ways...He is G-d after all.
I also cannot reconcile free will with a G-d who is up there giving Bill cancer and causing Bob to get hit by a car.. If this is true than free will is an illusion.
We can either have a G-d up their micromanaging us or we can have free will and a G-d who loves and cares for us while the results of free will and human frailty happen.

I think I kind of like this explanation.

I remember seeing a post here on the DIS once. It was a thread about many different religions. The poster explained that to them the Bible was a collection of stories for the purpose of teaching us - but the stories were not necessarily true stories. I've had a problem with my upbringing ever since learning the scientific explanation of our worlds creation & our evolution. Thinking of the Bible in the way they explained started to make more sense to me. Now, if I could just remember what religion that was.........

I was at my 32 yr old cousin's funeral yesterday. I had a real hard time when he was asking what we thought the first thing Missy said to God was. I had a hard time even picturing it. It was until he started describing God's waiting room (as seen in a 1970's movie "Insight: Packy's Life" with Jack Klugman & Bob Newhart) that I could actually start to see something. How BAD is that? LOL

 

[JennyMominRI]

Over the years, I've had some trouble with my Catholic upbringing. And lately, I feel I could have written your post myself.



I think I kind of like this explanation.

I remember seeing a post here on the DIS once. It was a thread about many different religions. The poster explained that to them the Bible was a collection of stories for the purpose of teaching us - but the stories were not necessarily true stories. I've had a problem with my upbringing ever since learning the scientific explanation of our worlds creation & our evolution. Thinking of the Bible in the way they explained started to make more sense to me. Now, if I could just remember what religion that was.........

I

I know that this opinion is contrary to a lot of Christians I view the Torah/Tanakh to be G-d inspired but not literally dictated.. It is a history book..A history of the Jews and it is told from th viewpoint of the Jews..It's biased.. It's informed by the time and place in which it was written ..Much of it is story and allegory meant to teach a lesson.Many of those lessons apply today. Other parts of it were used to form a viable society and pertain to the societal influences of the time..
For example...The Torah speaks a lot of slavery. It speaks of how to attain and treat slaves..It is not however and endorsement of slavery. Slavery existed in those days. It was a fact of life and Judaism seeked to try and restrict it and at least in some way make it less ugly.. Again..It's NOT an approval of slavery..There are Jewish laws relating to slavery..This does not mean that in order to be a Good Jew in 2007 we need to go buy ourselves a good Canaanite Slave.. Besides, good Canaanite slaves are hard to find
DO I believe the earth is 5000+ years old? No,and most Jews will agree .DO I believe in a literal Cain and abel? No,But there is much morality to learn from that story.

 

[JennyMominRI]

I was at my 32 yr old cousin's funeral yesterday.

I missed this the first time...I'm sorry about your cousin

 

[Beca]

To be honest with you all.....I'm afraid not to believe.

I'm afraid that bad things will come to me and that I will go to "Hell" (if there is such a place). I do think Religion is a business as is everything else in this world. I just want more to have "faith". To feel better spiritually and to not be afraid anymore. I can't possibly teach my kids about God if I'm not truly a believer. That would be hypocritical of me. My in laws are very Religious and bother me about teaching my kids about God. They think I'm a bad person cuz I don't pray. I grew up going to Catholic school and it never meant anything to me. My parents never went to church or taught us about God either so blame it on my upbringing I guess.
Also, my children are Orthodox and at their church they take communion from a community cup and it grosses me out. Everyone sharing the same cup!!! I don't want them to get communion but have my inlaws pressuring me.
ugghhhh!!!!

Wow!! I totally see myself in you!! I always "wanted" to believe, but I never could TRULY make myself believe. My dd is almost 6, and I can see the same thing in her.
I was blessed to have God come to me....twice. The first time, I was so upset, I cried for 3 days. It was the most amazing experience, and I was so ashamed that I had questioned all this time. He came to me one more time as a gesture of mercy. I don't want to get too much into this on a web board, these times are SOOO special to me...I don't want to cheapen them, or have them ridiculed. I WISH I could pass my belief onto you....and to my dd!!
Believing....TRULY believing is a gift....much more of a gift than you realize. Even Mother Theresa admitted that she had doubts before she died. My husband's parents are both ministers. His father does not believe in God, but believes in the good organized religion can do (where is that barfing smiley when you need one). His mother believes in something so "new age" that I am often frightened when I speak to her.

However....you HAVE to give yourself a break. Don't you understand...God has already claimed you, or you would not have the fear of not believing. Even though you say you do not believe, you really do. You just don't feel like it is enough.

The bible says times like this call for prayerful study of the Bible to draw you closer to God....and you will find what you seek.

To get you started on this, I am going to recommend two of my FAVORITE guides:

1) The "That The World May Know" video series. You can probably get this at a Christian bookstore or Amazon. These lessons were filmed during a tour of the Holy Land with Ray Van der Laan. He believes that you cannot understand what it means to be a Christian if you do not understand the culture of the Jews. He says so much of our New Testament is "coded" by the customs of the Jews, and if we do not understand the lessons as the Jews heard them, then we do not understand the lessons. He explains the meaning behind some of the most famous stories such as the last supper (Jesus spoke the words that a groom would speak to his bride...in essence, he was "marrying" his disciples, and all of mankind...challenging them to not forget him but to be bound to him). It helps to understand how controversial Jesus was. Also, seeing the places where he lived and taught...it adds a whole new element to the stories. The videos (DVD's now) are expensive, but SOOO worth it. They are divided up into 30 minute sessions, and there is NO "preaching" only teaching. They are super cool!!!

2) Also, "Alien Encounters" and "Cosmic Codes" by Chuck Missler. My dh never "truly" believed until he read those books. They are absolutely phenomenal.

The important thing to understand is that God KNEW that many of his creations would doubt his existence (I always think of the line in Bruce, Almighty when Morgan Freeman explains that even God cannot make anyone love him), and he coded the Bible to help those of us who doubt. If you search, he will show you what you need. He would never deny someone truly seeking for him. It make take time and perseverance, but you will find what your heart needs.

If you would like to talk more about this (and hear my stories), I would be happy to share them with you...just not on the internet. PM me if you are interested in learning more.

Hang in there...the truth (and good news) is...God has already claimed you for his own!!

 

[SereneOne]

I am not Christian but jewish...I'd like to give my perspective on this...I have AIDS a really nasty disease... In Jan my DH had an Aortic Dissection, emergency open heart surgery and almost died...He spent 9 weeks in the hospital... My Mother has renal Cancer... My brother has skin cancer and sarcoidosis...I've had to come to grips with the fact that both Ed and I will probably die young.
I don't believe G-d gave me AIDS. I don't believe he gave my family these illnesses..I believe we are imperfect humans with free will and bodies prone to sickness... As such we get sick..We have accidents, and sometimes others use their free will to do horrible things to us..
I believe that G-d is up there crying WITH us when these things happen..I can't reconcile a loving G-d with one who gives illness , and causes death and murder. I don't believe the It's *all part of his plan* idea...I can't concieve of any acceptable plan that allows for the rape and murder of a little girl or the deaths of 3000 people in their office building..If G-d wants to *teach* us something there are other ways...He is G-d after all.
I also cannot reconcile free will with a G-d who is up there giving Bill cancer and causing Bob to get hit by a car.. If this is true than free will is an illusion.
We can either have a G-d up their micromanaging us or we can have free will and a G-d who loves and cares for us while the results of free will and human frailty happen.

*applause* That is how I think. You just say things so much better.