Definition Essay: The Meaning Of Faith In Religion

The Meaning of Faith Imagine yourself sitting in the pews of your local neighborhood church, and the woman sitting in front of you throws her hands up toward the sky, as if she is reaching out to God because she is so moved by the power of his love for her. Her belief in him surpasses her fear of the stares and thoughts of other churchgoers, as she stands up during the service to praise her God. Her hands remaining in the air for the next couple of minutes, she closes her eyes and prays. And you can feel the power of her love for God radiating off of her like rays of a summer sun. Now, imagine yourself in the intensive care unit of a hospital. You’re sitting in the room of a trauma patient, the nurse comes into the room to check
the patient’s vitals and you can tell in her eyes that she has little hope for him. The patient is surrounded by his friends and family. The room is filled with love, and hope. And every day for months the patient’s wife comes to the hospital, and gives her husband more and more confidence to fight through the pain and continue on. His condition gradually begins to improve and after a few more months his wife is finally able to have her husband home with her. Faith is believing and trusting. Faith is having complete confidence in what you believe in. Faith is what you make of it, and everyone has their own interpretation of what faith is. There are all different types of faith.
The most identifiable type of faith is faith in religion. Centuries of people have developed, what we in the modern world understand as, faith in religion. Different cultures experience and practice their faiths in different ways. And different religions demonstrate their faith in different ways as well but all faith in religion is based around a God or higher being. Some cultures demonstrate their faith in God by the way they dress and others by the way they act. Some religions are extreme and others are more tame and simple. But many religions follow the same gist have faith in what you believe in. The reason why people follow religion is because they have faith in what they are following. If they do not have faith in their religion and what it stood for, there would be no point in following the guidelines set by each religion. One of the most extreme examples of faith in religion is the story of Abraham from the bible. In the story, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son in order to prove his faith in God. Abraham packed up his son, two servants, and wood for the alter then set off to find the place God told him to go. When he arrived at his destination he set everything up and then took the knife to slay his son, but before he reached his only son God called from above and told him not to lay a hand on him. God said “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”(New International Version Bible, Genesis, 22:12). In the Bible, there are many test of faith. But many find this story to be one of the most profound protests of
faith. Another example of faith is having faith in yourself. Having faith in yourself can be demonstrated in a variety of ways. The major ways to show the world that you have faith in yourself is to overcome your fears and obstacles, never giving up on your dreams, and aspirations, and making goals and accomplishing them. An example of having extreme faith in yourself is the story of Bethany Hamilton. This young girl grew up surfing on the coast of Hawaii and during one of her runs was attacked by a great white. She lost her arm while doing the activity that she treasured most. But with Bethany’s unfailing drive and remarkable faith in herself she rehabilitated and taught her body how to surf with one arm and was able to begin competing again. Not only did she overcome her fears, and get back into the water, but she became one of the best female surfers in her age group and won countless competitions. Her story has inspired millions of people to have faith in themselves and to never give up on their dreams. She taught people to never doubt themselves, and to keep pushing yourself until you triumph over your obstacles. Having faith or following a religion can drastically change your life. Showing other people that you have faith in them, can be rewarding for both the person receiving and giving. Having faith in someone is the most sincere way of showing someone you care. By saying you have faith in someone you show them that you have complete trust in them and that you anticipated them succeeding everyone’s expectations. The most common way that people show their faith in another person is by electing government officials. By voting for a president, you are saying that you trust this person and believe in their moral and political standings enough to allow them to govern over you. Obviously the opposite of having faith is not believing or having a lack of faith. You can show this by turning your back on someone you once trusted, by not following a religion or not believing in a God, or by not participating in government elections. One of the main reasons people have a lack of faith in religion, is because of the unknown. Not being able to see God or interact with him, makes it hard for some people to have faith in him. Some of the social aspects of religion also turn people away from faith. Some may feel pressured into believing in something that they do not or some may not like the aspects and customs of certain religions. An example of this can be seen in the story Salvation by Langston Hughes. He goes to a church revival with his aunt and feels extremely pressured to declare his acceptance of Jesus to his peers. This experience turned him away from God, and religious faith because he didn’t understand and was feeling pressure to accept something he was not ready for. He says in his passage, “She woke up and told my uncle I was crying because the Holy Ghost had come into my life, and because I had seen Jesus. But I was really crying because I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied… I hadn’t seen Jesus, and now I did not believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me.”(Hughes, 226). Hughes lost his faith in religion because of the social pressure he experienced to accept religion. Having faith shows in a variety of different ways. Different cultures, people, and religions express their faith in different ways. Everyone has reasons to have faith, people to have believe, and ideas to follow. Overall the definition of faith is individualize by each person. There is no definite definition of faith, because each person takes their experiences, beliefs, and ideas and makes their own definition of faith. To have faith in anything is a rewarding and relieving feeling. It means you believe and trust in something enough to proclaim it and acknowledge it. Faith in all of its forms is a beautiful thing, and should be cherished and respected by all people.