Faith can be defined as complete confidence or trust on something or in someone. It is usually accompanied with strong belief in the existence of God and the various religious doctrines that are based on spiritual apprehension instead of proof. For example, I have complete faith in the chair I sit on and the table on which I have placed my computer. I have faith that the table will not fall and the chair will not fail me.
Every time I turn the car keys in the ignition, I have faith that the engine will purr. I have faith that I can always turn to my parents when I need them and they will always find a way to help me through my problems. There are two sides of faith: weak and strong. Developing faith that is strong is not that easy. We, humans have just managed to complicate even the most simple things in life, unfortunately faith is one these things.
The religious scholars and general public around the world have lately developed some deep concern related to spirituality. Spirituality and religion are increasing combined ethnic and nationalistic tensions. These have given rise to many geopolitical conflicts around the world.
To understand how humans conceptualize God, the Faith Development Theory was developed in the 1970s. The theory concentrated on the impact of the concept of God or a Higher Being on the core beliefs, values, traditions, relationships, personal growth, ethical growth and values and generally every aspect of human life. The focus of the theory was the formative and adolescent years of a human’s life.
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I don’t pray for God to take my problems away, I pray only for God to give me the strength to go through them.” – Jose Lozano
“Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.” ― Max Lucado
“Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies and ambiguities and sudden, startling joys.” -Madeleine L’Engle
“As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit.” -Emmanuel
During the development of the theory, the focus was centered on faith in the general sense not just the religious significance of faith. In this sense, faith can be considered a main foundation for all beliefs and values.
With this thinking, the theory helps a person:
- Find a direction and coherence in life
- Get together with others in shared trust
- Ground their stance and deal with the challenges and benefits of living in a community
- Deal with the challenges that humans face during life and death.
As we grow old, faith becomes the centrifugal force that derives our everyday decisions and development. There are different stages of faith that are incorporated in our life from childhood to adulthood. Each stage offers more growth and emotional stability than the last and easily mixes with our life. The first thing you need to focus on is how to develop faith.
How to Develop Faith?
Faith thrives on companionship. You will gain faith when you are around people who have already reached a level of higher consciousness. Their experience and goodness will often inspire you and you would try to be more like them.
In other words, you will try to adopt their good habits as much as you can. Their guidance and inspiration will combine with your zeal to be better and gradually help you in developing much better faith.
If people around you are not enlightened, you should surround yourself with people who are more advanced in the path of finding faith in comparison to you. With their friendship you will learn new things and their inspiration will encourage you. This will make your faith much stronger. However, since these senior seekers are not completely enlightened, it is possible that they might not be able to give you a clear picture every time. At times the advice they give might not be entirely correct. It is also possible for these seekers to go off path and therefore you need to be strong enough to get them back to the path.
It is possible that during your travel down the path of faith, you are left alone among eager beginners. You might miss your friends and you will surely be tempted to veer off the path like them but look at yourself and see what you have accomplished. You will be grateful that you have achieved so much and that by being true and steady for the quest you have become a much better person and evolved.
We want ourselves to develop a string faith. This way our children and future generations will also develop string faith. Since schools and the society in general are not helping our children develop faith it is up to us to improve our faith and provide our children with a better tomorrow. Strong faith can be developed in many different ways. However, there are five most prominent ways in which you can develop faith.
Believe in the General of the Universe
You may be of a religious background or you may be an atheist or even non-religious. Either way, you have to believe that there is something that governs the laws of nature. If you look closely and the different wonders that nature provides us every day, you will surely come face to face with the infinite intelligence or the universal in general.
Most brilliant minds try to ignore this fact and intelligent minds look for ways to discount the notion. But if you have a few minutes of quite solitude near the beach or in a lush green valley or a mountain top and you close your eyes and ask yourself ‘what if?’ you will be surprised with the infinite possibilities that come to your mind.
Trust Others
If you work at any managerial level you will understand a lot about trust. After all you have to trust your subordinates to provide you with complete knowledge and information along with efficiency. You need to allow them time to grow. You cannot bind them to work according to your wishes. You have to give them space and see what they come up with.
Just keep yourself in their place. When you were at their level you were bound to make many mistakes. Also, remember the people who helped you get back up and pushed you forward so that you could be what you are today. This will help you grow your compassion that will last you a life time.
Develop Trust in Yourself
Now that you have learned to trust others, you need to find a way to trust yourself. It is important to have a little faith in your abilities. You need to stop thinking of the things that usually distract you from your goal. You need to focus on the task you have at hand. We all have a heart’s desire and we all long to have it fulfilled.
Why wait? If you trust yourself and are able to accomplish things on your own, you can also find a way to be passionate about what you desire and try to achieve it. Your career coach will usually not tell you what you are good at. The coach will let you explore different options and will concentrate on your heart’s desire and help you come up with a way to overcome the obstacles that you face.
Develop Trust for a Concept
We have heard and read in many places that ‘an idea can change your life’. Every day we come up with new ideas for something or the other. Some ideas are small like utilizing a small space for storage. Other ideas are huge and life changing. Would we want to give life to one such idea? Probably not right there but maybe sometime in future you will want to utilize the idea.
You could utilize your idea at a later date for many reasons. Either you did not have the resources or you did not have enough knowledge to implement your idea. It is for this reason that you should try and jot down all ideas or concepts that develop in your brain. Some of the greatest inventions in the world were mere ideas on paper and took years before they were brought to life.
Develop Trust for a Thing
Before you starting thinking that this is utterly preposterous, read to what we are trying to say. Everyday technology thrusts something new for you to try. Lately they have combined tables with laptops and a digital camera is much more than a device for capturing photos now. Therefore, it is important that we are always open to new things. You never know, it might become the new in thing. Thus, it is important that you develop faith in different things and be open to new ideas.
We have been talking a lot about how you can develop faith. Now we need to focus on how you can achieve something that you have faith in. Basically we are talking about how you can achieve the thing you have faith in, in just 21 days! Sounds almost impossible? Well, it is not.
How to Achieve Something in 21 Days
Developing faith in something is not easy. However, once you have developed faith you will want to achieve your goal. When it comes to achieving your goal there are many things you have to consider. There are many steps along the path of achievement and you have to make sure that you follow each and every one carefully and methodically.
The first thing that you have to do is surround yourself with positive people. People who have reached enlightenment in faith and have also achieved different goals in life turn out to be great mentors. You need to find your purpose and stick to it. If you have the habit of discontinuing different things because you are not determined enough you need the positive people and faith seekers in your life.
You need to stay motivated and at the same time keep track of your accomplishments along the way. Your accomplishments could be small but they are vital if you want to achieve your goal. Research has shown that it takes 21 days to develop a habit. So if your goal is to lose weight by the end of next year you need to start a healthy routine and follow it every day for 21 days.
Usually we tell ourselves that we need to continue the habit for the rest of our lives. This is when our brain starts thinking the other way and starts tempting us with different excuses that we make to ourselves. To avoid leaving something in the middle, just convince your conscience brain that you have to continue the habit for 21 days. That is less than a month. It is just three weeks.
Are you motivated now? Are you thinking that sure I can try this for three weeks? What happens is that your neural pathways take approximately 21 days to form. Therefore by the time you develop a habit and stick to it for 21 days, you will find yourself following the same path unconsciously on the 22nd day.
It may seem impossible to develop faith and achieve something within 21 days but if you are true to your plan and follow it daily with rigor and excitement you will surely achieve your goal within 21 days. Make sure that you make a list and work out a proper plan before you decide on what you want to achieve within 21 days.
No comments yet.