Will God ever give me the gift of a strong faith?

  • Thread starter Thread starter bclustr9
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bclustr9

Guest
I really wanna believe but it’s just hard. I struggle to believe much of Catholic doctrine.
 
To follow Christ:
  1. Deny yourself (your feelings, emotions, opinions, desires)
  2. Take up your cross daily (the cross of doubt, ego or obstinacy)
  3. Then - and only then - follow Him with an open heart.
We go wrong when we reverse this process. Yet, if you test the faith, applying sound reasoning and reading the reasons behind Catholic doctrines, they will begin to make sense and ultimately, will make perfect sense.

But, first we must rid ourselves of that baggage called “me”
 
Lex orandi, lex credendi.

Forget about belief. Pray instead. Pray the mass, or pray the rosary.

Try to begin and end your day with prayer.

Sanctify the day with the Angelus, praying 3 times a day: morning, noon and night.

Ask others to pray for you.
 
I really wanna believe but it’s just hard. I struggle to believe much of Catholic doctrine.
ubjectively, faith stands for the habit or virtue by which we assent to those truths”

Pope, H. (1909). Faith. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05752c.htm

Belief:
That state of the mind by which it assents to propositions, not by reason of their intrinsic evidence, but because of authority.

By the definition given above we are enabled to distinguish belief
  • from intelligence, in that the truth of the fact or proposition believed is not seen intuitively;
  • from science or knowledge, since there is no question of resolving it into its first principles;
  • from doubt, because belief is an assent and positive;
  • from opinion and conjecture, in which the assent is not complete.
Belief, however, as has already been noted, is often indiscriminatingly used for these and for other states of mind from which for the sake of accuracy it should be as carefully distinguished as is possible.

The distinction drawn between the assents of knowledge and belief cannot be said to be observed at all closely in practice, where they are frequently confused.
Aveling, F. (1907). Belief. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02408b.htm
 
Last edited:
I don’t think of a strong faith so much as a gift that is given, but as something we build upon by our prayers and our devotion to becoming closer to God.
 
The Catechism defines faith as a “theological virtue” which is “infused by God into the souls of the faithful”, and it is also called a “gift”.

This kind of explains why someone like Mother Teresa could still have doubts. It wasn’t from any lack of effort to believe on her part, nor from any lack of good works.

Not everybody gets the gift of faith, or gets it in an equal amount. So some people have more of a challenge.
1813 The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.77

Faith

1814
Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. By faith "man freely commits his entire self to God."78 For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God’s will. “The righteous shall live by faith.” Living faith "work through charity."79

1815 The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it.80 But “faith apart from works is dead”:81 when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body.
 
Thanks Bear, I did not know that. That explains a lot about some people I suspect.
It does make one wonder why some do not receive the gift.
But isn’t it true that some receive the gift and reject it? I think that is more likely the case sometimes.
 
I am having a hard time believing that God would give the gift and then take it away. He may “give” us troubles to strengthen our faith (which some see as testing) but I do not believe he takes away the gift. I think we throw it away because we find it too difficult or too heavy to carry.
 
I really wanna believe but it’s just hard.
Just wanted to point out that persevering in something that is “just hard” is a pretty good definition of a strong faith.
I struggle to believe much of Catholic doctrine.
Blessed John Henry Newman wrote, “Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.” He adds that a difficulty is not a doubt. The person with a difficulty says, “How can that be so?” whereas a person who doubts says, “That can’t be so!”

He is speaking about you here. You are saying “I struggle” you aren’t saying “I reject”. Basically, your admission of your struggle here is saying “I believe, Lord; help my unbelief!”

These difficulties regarding Catholic doctrine is more evidence of a strong faith. It is evidence that you are taking your faith seriously.

We experience trials in our faith for three reasons: to strengthen us, to clarify our beliefs, and to help us proclaim the Gospel.

On a final note I just wanted to point out, from my experience, that many people struggle with Catholic doctrine because they jump right into the middle of it and don’t start at the beginning. For instance they struggle with Papal infallibility before learning about authority. Basically, to me, when I talk to these people it is like trying to explain calculus to a person who hasn’t learned addition yet.

Struggling is good, that is how we become strong. Just take your time and ask questions. However long it takes you (a month or you 5 years) to join the Catholic Church is not evidence of how strong your faith is.

God Bless
 
Job had a lot taken away from him, but remained faithful. Likewise, God sends trials our way sometimes, taking away that which he has given.
 
I don’t pretend to know why God does or does not do anything.
I don’t pretend to know what God is or isn’t.
I don’t know what God thinks or does not think.

But all that ignorance is based on what I do know, that God exists.

I had faith all my life but it wasn’t until I showed commitment by becoming a Catholic that God began to work with me. I am His, first and foremost. To do with what He wishes. The more faith I had the more faith I was given.

God is always with you whether you believe or not.
 
Last edited:
But he could and does. We are not entitled to any gifts from God. Many saints have struggled with their faith.
 
Would you provide me a link to Catholic teaching and/or Scripture on this? That is a new teaching to me.
 
I really wanna believe but it’s just hard. I struggle to believe much of Catholic doctrine.
How do you imagine that things would be different if you had “the gift of a strong faith”?

Faith is like a muscle - it gets stronger when you use it. If you allow your mind to be pre-occupied with reasons not to believe, it is like entertaining excuses for not going to the gym.

Some of us have already been given gifts that we have never unwrapped or used. If one does not open and put to use such gifts, one’s spiritual life will languish.

To a great extent, faith is a decision. You decide where you will place your faith, if it is in material goods, power, etc. Jesus said repeatedly “be it done to you according to your faith”, making it clear that the exercise of our faith is what produces results.

“So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24

This is a mental attitude of expectancy combined with an act of the will. If you ask for faith, then act as though you have already received it, it will be yours.

“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” John 6:29

It is work, though a different kind of “work” than that to which we may be accustomed. This is inner work - work focused on shaping the attitude and will toward God.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top