PREAMBLE-WHAT IS FAITH?
Contrary to popular opinion, Faith is not “Belief without proof”- this definition reduces Faith to Fideism, which is “I believe, despite what the evidence tells me”- this concept of Faith should be rejected; rather, Faith is complete trust and confidence in someone or something. It follows that the more intimately we know someone and the more time we may have had to see him or her “in action”, the more likely we will believe what he or she says; in other words, the more faith we will have in that person as a consequence. If, however, the person in question is a stranger to us, the less likely it is that we will believe in what he or she says.
“To one who has Faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without Faith, no explanation is possible”-Thomas Aquinas.
Whether we realize it or not, Faith is an essential part of life and not just concerning Christianity or other Religious Bodies. For example, every time you sit down on a chair, you have faith that the chair will hold you; you are trusting that the chair will not collapse under you. Faith is being sure of what you’re hoping for- being certain of what you don’t see or experience yet. The Holy Bible defines Faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”( Hebrews 11:1).
Faith comes in different dimensions-faith in oneself, Faith in God and Faith in others. Exercise of these dimensions of Faith has been found to have a lot of influence on mental health.
Faith can be classified as Human and Supernatural. As soon as a child is born, human faith is exercised. Through human faith, a children get to know people around them and their relationship with them; knowledge is transmitted through Faith- In school, all that is taught are accepted by Faith; if you’re taught by the Geography teacher that River Nile is the longest river in Africa, it will be folly to wish to verify that information before accepting it by Faith and answering accordingly in the examination; In all these case scenarios, you are confident and trustful of the authority of the person from whom you are getting the information.
Faith can also mean strong belief in the Teachings or Doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual convictions rather than proof. Faith can thus also be defined as a Supernatural gift from God which enables us to believe without doubting, whatever God has revealed. Through Faith, we believe that there is God, the Supreme Being and our Creator. It is through this Gift of Faith that we believe that there are 3 persons in one God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
FAITH IN ONESELF AND FAITH IN GOD
You must always be conscious of your dignity as a person. You are wonderfully made by God the Creator; Never take anything for granted. Reflecting on the Anatomy, Physiology and the Spiritual dimensions of the human person, you will come to realize that you have been crafted wonderfully and meritoriously. You must therefore be always grateful for the person that you are; a means of showing that gratitude is striving to be the best version of yourself all the time- Constantly learning to improve oneself in all dimensions, to serve better and help others to be better versions of themselves. It’s important to note that the allotted time in this life is limited, even if one will live up to 100years! –therefore, every moment counts!
It is pertinent to note that there are elements of the spiritual life that negate growth and progress; A consequence of diminished faith in oneself is low self-esteem, lack of confidence, all of which lead to poor mental health. The Intellect or Intelligence and the Will are the Principal Powers of the human person through which the exercises leading to growth or stagnation reside.
Roy Bennett has this to say “Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself. Believe in yourself, your abilities and your own potential. Never let self-doubt hold you captive. You are worthy of all that you dream of and hope for”
Also-“Don’t let others tell you what you can’t do. Don’t let the limitations of others limit your vision. If you can remove your self-doubt and believe in yourself, you can achieve what you never thought possible.”
The basis for faith in oneself has to stem from the fact that we are children of God ; we have filial ties to God as our Father and as a consequence, ties with other fellow human beings as brothers and sisters. Believing that we are children of God, we believe we have the graces from God to be the best version of ourselves. If we believe in God, then it means that we will foster a Relationship with Him. It means we will map out periods during the day when we have dealings with Him like Meditation or mental prayer, in which we speak to God and listen to Him. Dealing with God means making frequent acts of Adoration, Praise, Expiation, Thanksgiving and petition to God. We are spurred to know more and more about God by reading the Sacred Scriptures and other spiritual reading material, seeking good counsel, examining our consciences, detecting any deviation from the Will of God and making the necessary rectification, etc.
Faith in God entails that we constantly strive to please Him at all times and in every circumstance. Since we believe that all other human beings are children of God, faith in God will spur us to help other people know, love and serve God better with every passing moment.
Israelmore Ayivor says, “Mastery is not dispensed on the podium of quitters, but purchased on the counter of Consistent Application of Self-Willing, ‘Can do’ spirit and an outstanding endurance to persevere with persistent endurance till the end.”
Sunday Adelaja says, “Every Christian has the chance to become an outstanding person”
These are all outstanding and meaningful quotes and can be very motivating. But then, it is easier said than done; do you wonder why?
OBSTACLES TO FAITH
There exist in the human person formidable obstacles to Faith. It is important to be aware of them and to constantly strive to get rid of them. Incidentally, the greatest enemies of the human person are within the person- the unruly, unreasoning passions or emotions, pride, envy and other weaknesses of human nature. The power of knowing is in the Intellect; An Intellect filled with pride will choose to believe only what he or she wants to believe. Someone filled with pride has an inordinate desire to be esteemed, loved, extolled, honoured, praised, and approved; there is the fear of being humiliated, calumniated, despised, ridiculed and suffering rebukes. A proud person has an excessive selfish love of self, and so will not easily give way to that absolute faith in God expected of a child of God. This will give way to lots of rationalizations, justifications and excuses for doing things as one wishes and not minding if it is in accordance with the right and good, doing or holding opinions that one finds comfortable but which may not conform with the truth and ethics, all of which can be very detrimental to mental health.
Pride can also be the cause of choosing to remain in ignorance of the truth if one is not in agreement with it or is not comfortable with the acceptance of that truth.
Another obstacle is laziness, or remaining in one’s “comfort zone”. There is a need to keep growing in Faith, which means sticking to a plan of life, whether convenient or not, to learn or know more, loving more and serving more. Without this lively and constant spirit of mortification, necessary for self-improvement, it will be impossible to grow appreciably in faith.
Another obstacle is failure to do self-evaluation -Personal insight into your strengths and weaknesses is an empowering gift for growth in improvement. Lack of humility leads to this failure to do self-evaluation.
Just like the growth of a plant is dependent on sunlight and nutrients from the soil, spiritual growth in the human person is dependent on nourishing the human soul with frequent reflections on the Word of God in the Holy Bible and Sacred Tradition, use of the Sacraments, Practices of piety etc- and that ever-ardent desire to please God in thought, word and action at all times.
Lack of nourishment of the soul with the Word of God, negligence in dealings with God and neglecting practices of piety are great obstacles to spiritual growth, of which growth in faith is paramount. St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians in Phil.2:12-13 says-“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God Who works in you to will and act, according to His good purpose.” That means that you have to cooperate with God’s graces – to make the efforts needed to grow and improve in the spiritual life.
Spiritual growth is intentional-it is not automatic; that means we have to keep making the effort. Spiritual growth comes from God, but requires that the person cooperate with the grace of God and make the effort needed for the growth.
CONCLUSION
Faith is of vital importance to wellness, human and spiritual maturity and growth of the human person ; these are a few quotes from the Holy Bible:
“Without Faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him”- (Hebrews 11:6)
Jesus was constantly encouraging faith in his public ministry as can be evidenced in the following quotes:
“Daughter, your Faith has healed you (Mark 5:34)
“I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith: Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.(Matthew 8:10-13)
“Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.(Matthew 15:28)
“Oh, unbelieving generation—how long shall I stay with you? (Mark 9:19)
“Then Jesus told him,’ Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”(John 20:29)
The importance of Faith can never be underestimated. While oxygen in the air nourishes our bodies, faith nourishes the heart and soul. Without faith, you will not drive your car without the morbid fear that someone will crash into you; If there is no faith, how can you fly in an aeroplane soaring over 30,000 feet in the air? Without faith, we would not expect that things will turn out all right for us, no matter what the situation may be.
The focused power of faith breeds abundance. The mind is a very powerful tool. It can be used for good, but also go to waste when neglected or abused. Whatever we focus on in life, we get more of; if we focus on problems, we live solely in those problems and have difficulty moving past the negativity. Alternatively, however, when we focus on positivity and seek out solutions, we can resolve our problems and move from a state of lack to a state of abundance. Faith helps you discover your purpose in life; it can be used to eliminate stress, anxiety and fear; faith is the pathway to finding solutions.
In all ramifications, exercising faith helps in overall wellness; brings about flourishing mental health, individually and collectively and will go a long way to preventing diagnosable mental illnesses.
Caroline Ademiluyi is a Lagos-based Pharmacist and Fertility Care Practitioner.
About The Author
