Is faith just something that a christian has? Is faith something we all struggle with a little? Or is it just the “ignorant masses” that need faith as a crutch?
I have just started my second year of university. It’s a fascinating place to be, and there is so much to learn. Our world is a complex and beautiful place, and the people in it just add to that complexity. But, one thing that isn’t really “valued” in the academic world is the idea of faith. If there is no tangible scientific evidence to prove something, then it must not exist…
But is that true?
What about love? What about hope? What about dreams? Aren’t these also “faith based”? Do we have tangible scientific evidence to support love? Don’t we use faith to believe in love? Doesn’t it take faith to believe that the person you are in a relationship with actually loves you? Ones behaviour and emotion isn’t really “evidence”. Behaviour and words can also be used for manipulation and control…it might not be love per se. So, if love is also based on faith, then how can we really know it to be true? We have to take it on faith.
I dare say that hopes and dreams, as well as so many other things that we experience, are also faith based.
God says He loves us. How do I know that to be true? There are many days when the circumstances don’t prove “love”. And they become “evidence” of no god at all. So, what does that mean to me, as someone who professes to have faith in a living God? If there is a living God, especially One who gave His Son up to die on the cross for me, then that takes faith to believe in. It takes faith to believe that the Bible is the Living Word of this God. There are sides to be taken here. Do I want to believe in God? Or do I want to believe in myself? If there is no god, then I have to do this on my own, with no one to lean on…after all, it takes faith to believe in the love of another human being, and in reality, we are all fallible.
This all said, at the end of the day, I can say that I believe in God. I believe that the Bible is the true Word of God. And yes, this takes faith, because even though there is “evidence” that God’s Word is true…and that is an entirely different kind of blog…I know this one thing to be true…and that is that I am in need of Him. I need the peace that only He can give. I need the love that can only be experienced in His presence. I need the hope in a better future, because without Him, there isn’t much hope left in the human race.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV