The Difficulties In Having Faith In God.

In the Bible, in the New Testament, much is written about the value of children and parenting them. Jesus stated very clearly dire consequences of what would happen to those who hurt children or damaged their ability to trust others. This seemed to matter a lot to Christ. He enjoyed being with children because their faith, trust, affection, and honesty were so up front and refreshing. They shared exactly what was in their hearts and they were full of innocence. They were able to have complete confidence in promises made. They wanted to believe in goodness and they took faith and trust seriously. Jesus knew, I think, what we so often forget: that children are delicate and easily damaged. They are vulnerable in so many ways, because they haven’t learned to build defenses yet that would keep them safe from harm. They take rules seriously and want to obey and please others. They enjoy having someone take care of them and protect them. At least, this is true much of the time for those who come from healthy, loving family systems.

When they grow up, they are most likely to have loving relationships and a strong faith in a higher power. Their parents mirrored and showed them what love was.The parents showed by their actions that they were trustworthy, dependable, non-rejecting, and loving. This knowledge was transferred to others as a result, including their spiritual relationship to Christ. It would make sense that Trust and Faith in Christ would happen as a result of early imprinting.

If a child was raised in a home where violence happened on a regular basis and fear of punishment was prevalent; if a child learned early in life that the one who was supposed to protect him and keep him safe was unsafe, unpredictable, not reliable, or dependable; that promises would be broken right after they had been made, and he knew he was not loved, or accepted; and if he learned early on not to have confidence in anyone, then it would make sense for him to end up in unhealthy relationships and have difficulty believing in someone he could not see or hear. He would more likely see God as unforgiving and punitive towards himself. It would be hard to believe the quote below.

When he became an adult and he had friends that continually broke promises, lied to him, betrayed his trust, it would be very difficult to believe and have faith in the promises of someone he had never met, could not see, or hear. God knew that in order for man to trust Him, man needed to experience this from another human being. That is why Christ told us to love our neighbor, give to those in need, to serve others

We must learn to have compassion for these adults and their struggle to learn trust. When people say,”Christ is all you need,” they are invalidating the struggle and the pain that occurs when these adults try and try to trust others and God.

When someone says, “have faith for God has so many wonderful things waiting for you,”  it is hard to believe it’s true if one’s childhood was hell and life continued to be a constant struggle as an adult. It is hard for him to perceive God thinks of him as special when no one else has. For some people, trust is so hard to achieve.Yet, to enter heaven, one must be able to trust that God will keep His promises.

Yu/stan/kema