Why does faith come easier to some than others?

Question

What personality traits / psychological predispositions do all the faithful (for diametrically opposed as their individual faiths might be) have in common? …What makes some people more open to and accepting of faith than others (including those who will never come to faith)?

***Bill - I can only hope you are seriously kidding with me/us here when you talk about all that crazy "hanging" stuff. BUT whatever the case maybe, let me just tell you this: PLEASE do NOT even joke around with such hanging nonesense talk. Not long ago I lost a truly precious friend of mine to suicide (she hung herself). It truly felt like an emotional rape to all her friends and family who loved her dearly. I have news for you Bill, you don't get even with people or punish your "enemies" that way, you just end up raping all the ones who truly love you and you have forgotten about in your self-centerd moment of maddness. You need to seek serious help; if you think you cannot get it at AA, then find somewhere else or someone else who is willing to help. YOU ARE NEVER AS LONELY AND UNLOVED AS YOU MAY BELIEVE YOU ARE. Let the past go my friend - we've all had losses in the past, find the courage to go on and learn to love yourself in this wonderful gift that is LIFE.

*** Bill continued - Remember, if nothing else you always have your Y!A friends and community, that may seem like a joke to you, but behind every answer here there is a REAL person typing on a keyboard. I assure you, you have a friend in me, and no doubt many others here. So, you better keep answering my questions in days, weeks, months and years to come - or I'll personally come after you; I'm sick and tired of losing friends to senseless suicide crap.

BTW, you wanna know something, Bill? I found the love of my life on Y!A – she is all and much more than I ever wanted or even hoped for in a woman. Who knows maybe if you change you gloomy outlook on life and put yourself in the right spiritual frame of mind, you too might meet the true love of your life. Negativity begets negativity, take control of your life, and find the courage to show others your strength of character and not your weakness by taking the easy way out. And like I said, I better keep seeing you answering my questions, if for no other reason than to just say hi to a friend. …May peace and happiness always be with you my FRIEND.

Answer 1

People are different.
Some tend to question everything before believing and go on to become philosophers, scientists and/or atheists...
Others have a give-and -take approach, "well may be religion is really make-believe, but let me believe it if it does no harm..."
Yet others, who believe that they can know about themselves better from other "influential" people (if so many people respect him, he must be right!!!), latch on to the first hero-worship tale they hear about and go on to become staunch believers of the respective cult/religions.
Of course migrations accross those groups keep happening, so it is really difficult to generalise!

Answer 2

i feel there are a few reasons for and against
for those who have faith ..... their own nature , ( curious , imaginatiave , compassionate , etc ) leads them to want to do more for others and in a sutation they can do so without seeming out of place , church allows people to give to others for reason and some people need reason
or they may have lost someone in their lives and feel they wish to be closer to the source that holds their loved one
or they may have had negative effects in their past such as alchohol or drugs and that being in a place that offers support and gives them hope is a good option for them

ok

against

again by nature .. logical thinkers who need something more solid before they can believe ... although they may be every bit as caring and compassionate as the believer

or like the believers they too have lost someone and cant understand why a god ( if he existed )would take something so precious from them.. so the logical answer is for them .. there cannot be a god
or again they have had a bad past ( again drugs alcohol etc )but unlike the believer who turns to faith to help them overcome the problem ..the non believer would ask if there is a god why have i suffered ... again logically for them there can be no god

some people by their very nature need something bigger .. some people by their nature need only themself to believe in

neither of the two i feel are wrong .. and neither of the two should condemn the other for their beliefs .. because ironically .. i see them both as two sides of the same coin

Answer 3

Faith and love comes to those who god favors.

A year ago my ex-girlfriend and I were drinking and fighting. We both had been sober in AA before, but we started drinking together.

Anyway, she left me almost 1 year to the day today. We both went back to AA. Because she's a pretty girl lots of people rallied around her to support. All the men wanted to sleep with her, and some of them convinced her to do it.

She's sober, happy, and has a new boyfriend - my old sponsor. Go figure huh?

I went back the same day. No one shook my hand. No one said hello. No one welcomed me except during the obligitory 'hi bill' at all AA meetings.

I have not made a single friend. The people who I thought were my friends, are hers. Many of the men I used to hang out with have either dated her or tried to.

Tommorow, the her actualy anniversary, I have decided to hang myself at right around the time she left.

God does play favorites. Maybe he doesn't like you either.

Answer 4

It's rather hard to give a short answer to that question since there could be many individual factors involved but I've heard that military men come to faith rather quickly when they have the gospel message explained to them because they are used to submitting to authority and being members of a team.

Perhaps that's one of the key factors. People who are proud loners that don't want to accept a higher authority and who are not willing to sacrifice their personal desires for the common good are less likely to receive the gift of faith that God offers and become humble members of the body of Christ.

Answer 5

If you look it up in the Bible in the old testament it talks about Pharaoh and how God hardened his heart and in the New Testament where God opened Lidia's heart to hear the word of God. It also states in the new testament that God has predestined his people. God chooses who He wants, but once he has chosen us and has opened up our hearts it is up to us to continue the good work that He began. This is why it may seem some can understand the Bible and some can not. Now that doesn't mean that we give up on a person just because they don't understand it right away. We have to plant the seed and allow God time to make it grow. God Bless

Answer 6

I think, when all the data is examined, data from history, culture, psychology.....we will find the answer to be this,
Those with the greatest relationships with there fathers = no strong attraction to faith
down to
those with the worst realtionships with their fathers = extreme fundemental faith.
in ancient history....death in the home was more common. religion gets started quite easily.
even the bible says
PS 68:5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
so they were even aware of this human psychological aspect back then
My answer will fit all the facts i reckon. and maybe in a thousand years, will finally be realised.

merry christmass

Answer 7

It's not about personality traits. We have faith because we have believed. When we make a decision to believe, God gives us a bit of Grace that makes us believe more. When we stay in God's Grace by not offending him we develop a strong faith. If we offend God and have no repentance, God withdraws his Grace from us and we start to question what we believed in. And by the way, we don't know we have lost our faith when it happens and so it is very important to stay in God's Grace.

There is only one Faith, one Truth, one Light. If we have the desire for look for the Truth, it is God's Grace that makes us look. He gives us Grace to search for the Truth, the one True faith. If we do not listen to that little voice inside our heads that prompts us to search for the Truth, then God withdraws from us and eventually we turn against Him.

Answer 8

there are three kinds of people in the world:

1. Spiritual - open to religious and ET things (posess spiritual faculties)
2. Intellectuals - always looking for explanations (they live in their minds)
3. Physical - just eating, drinking and (cant say the rest)

Answer 9

Some people are just more impressionable followers than others. Others have strong will and strong minds and don't easily follow doctrine that demands it's follower to believe on faith and not evidence or logic.

Answer 10

They are willing to take the leap to accept something that is impossible to understand. Or, as I call it, having an open mind.