How important is faith in your life? The meaning of faith is as varied across humanity as nearly anything we can imagine. There are religious, cultural, philosophical and personal contexts for faith with more views and debates than any practical person would care to think about. However, there is no legitimate debate about the importance of faith — as we generally define it — in our practical daily lives. I’m referring to the universal construct of faith that, in the English language, describes ethical, moral, religious, spiritual and interpersonal principles such as trust, fidelity and transcendence.
Let me frame our discussion of faith’s importance around the common, universal and generally accepted operational definitions of faith: trust and confidence in someone or something; belief that is based on some evidence, but not proof; belief in God or a set of teachings of religion; belief in a code of ethics or standards; and the obligation of fidelity to a person, a promise or contract. In this context, faith brings order and meaning to our physical lives, and it is a bridge to our spiritual quest for the sacred.
There are two traditional domains for exploring faith: theological and psychological. Each theological perspective has doctrines of faith that attempt to connect mankind to the sacred. The psychological pursuit has more recently been to understand more about the faith-emotion connection and our personal perceptions as they relate to our meaning and to the sacred. There are many cross-cultural, large-sample studies that have clearly linked people of faith to positive emotions, diminished negative emotions, increases in physical and mental health and longevity of life. The relationship between faith and emotion is bidirectional — meaning faith influences positive emotions, and positive emotions influence our faith. However, it is important to note that some studies indicate that faith comes first and, likely, has a causal relationship with positive outcomes.
Faith has also been directly associated with increased coping strategies, especially when in stressful situations. For example, people who have strong religious faith and practices show higher levels of post-trauma growth after a divorce or a death of a loved one. Some emotions that are related to faith have been labeled as “religious or spiritual” in nature, such as gratitude, contentment, love, empathy, compassion, hope, responsibility, tolerance, forgiveness, contrition, trust, loving-kindness, joy, peace, duty, obligation, etc. All of these emotions have been shown to increase our personal well-being and health.
A core characteristic of faith that strongly relates to well-being is that it plays an important role in “meaning making.” In other words, our faith provides us with a structure or schema from which we attribute meaning to all of life’s experiences. This gives us the ability to organize our experiences in a coherent manner that helps us answer the question, “What is the purpose of my life?” It seems that systems of faith are unique in that they go well beyond the physical explanations of the sacred. Therefore, faith offers connection, coherence, meaning, purpose that all lead to positive emotional experience — even in the presence of adversity. In fact, we may argue that faith plays an integral role in the notion that disadvantage can lead to advantage. Faith allows us not only to survive, but to flourish because of our chosen meaning, purpose and positive efforts to respond to challenges with hope.
Without faith, life is less predictable, which leads to increases in anxiety and fear. Faith in self and others certainly brings some control over these anxieties and fears, but a faith in a “higher power” goes far beyond our human limits and allows us to share in God’s power and control. Again, studies show that religious faith is associated with greater subjective well-being and a higher psychological security and hope — which helps us manage our fears and anxieties.
What is the importance of faith in your life? I suppose the answer truly does depend on the importance you place on your faith. If your sovereign power is your ability to attribute meaning and purpose to all things, then you, and only you, will determine the importance of faith in your life. Keep in mind that the power of your faith will be your bridge from the physical to the sacred and will lead you to the best positive outcomes.
Gary M. Barnard, Ph.D., is the author of “Becoming a Power Parent: Seven Guiding Principles for Creating a Healthy Family.” www.thepower-parent.com.
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