Living life with faith

I wrote in a recent post that I have been quite contemplative as of late and below is one of the main issues that I have been giving a lot of though to.

I am not a religious person, never have been and likely never will be. I think that for people who are religious and their religion helps them be better people, then that is great for them, and I say that with absolute sincerity. Religion just is not for me. It seems that many religions scare people into following their church's teachings by preaching that we should fear God, and that if one does not following the church teachings, then that individual is in danger of suffering unimaginable consequences. Further, it seems to be that some religious people try to justify their abhorrent acts and poor treatment of other people by misinterpreting the Bible, all so that they may use it's contents to back up the detestable ways in which they choose to live their lives. (I understand that not all religions and religious people are this way, so please do not send me hate mail for making these statements.) What I find so interesting is that each religion has their own unique interpretations of the same book, the Bible, which for me makes it difficult to trust in any one religion's interpretation, and therefore any church teachings.

I must say that the lack of religion in my life has not affected my faith whatsoever. On the contrary, in recent months I have found my faith and trust in a higher power growing by leaps and bounds. I call that higher power "God" as many others who live a life with faith do, although my belief in who God is likely differs from how other people perceive God.

Regardless, I do not believe that God would want us to live in fear. I believe that God's only true want for us as a human race is to live a life of virtue and goodness. I believe that he wants us to treat others with kindness and respect, to help other people, to love rather than hate, to be thankful for the gifts that we have been given, and to take care of those gifts. These gifts include, but are not limited to, the people in our lives, our earth, and our food. I believe that God wants us to be as happy as possible given individual life circumstances and to be able to find happiness through goodness, rather than through negative or wicked intentions and acts. Finally, I hold the belief that God does not want us to fear him/her and that God certainly does not want the words of the Bible to be used as justification to hate, or to act in malicious or hostile ways.

With my newfound faith and my discovery of who I believe God is, and what I think God wants from us, I have felt an incredible sense of peace come over me. I feel stronger in my faith and as though my life goals are both clearer than ever before, and more attainable than I previously thought they were. Of course, I still struggle and I have no doubt that always will. Currently my main struggle is related to my lack of patience in many different aspects of my life. However, I feel as though my faith has made my struggles easier to cope with and overcome, even if only on a case-by-case basis. Every little bit counts though, because I believe that with each success over my struggles I become a better person, and a person that I can be proud to be.