Does your faith change as you age? How? Why?

Question

When I was a kid, I was raised Christian. And I believed in monotheism, Jesus as the savior, heaven and hell etc. But my faith gradually weakened as I grew up and became a more complex thinker. Now at 21, I am firmly entrenched in agnosticism. I admit I don't know the answers to deep existential and theological questions, and I'm OK with that. But will I always be OK with it? Spiritually, how have you changed with age? What changes do you notice in others?

Answer 1

I love your question! Your experiences really hit home with me. I was raised without religious beliefs when I was very young, but I was raised with spiritual beliefs and was taught about reincarnation, the afterlife, how to read Tarot cards, etc.

When I was a teenager I converted to Christianity, and followed that for about five years. When I was 19 I converted to a pseudo-Christian religion that had its roots in gnosticism and Sabellianism. I was really into that, and I swore I would never, never leave it, and that I would rather die than denounce it. I was truly a religious fanatic!

As I got older, though, I changed. I stopped seeing the world in black and white, I lost interest in being judgmental, and I decided that where people go when they die is none of my business. I almost gave up my faith in Jesus because I was so disgusted with religion, but when I thought about my life I realized that a lot of good things have come my way because of God's goodness to me, so I asked God to help me keep my faith.

After a couple of years of trying different churches of different denominations, all the while being very skeptical, I have finally found a church where I feel like I belong. I still have faith in Jesus, but what I don't have is a judging, critical attitude. I have gained a better understanding of how much God loves all of us, and I like myself a lot better now because I'm not judgmental anymore and because I am more accepting of people, religions of all kind, and life in general.

So now, at age 40, I have learned to never say never, to not judge another person, to mind my own business, and to appreciate the beauty and uniqueness that is in every individual. I also know from my past experiences that my faith will continue to change and hopefully grow.

I could have left church and Christianity altogether, and like I said, I considered it, but I'm glad I didn't. God helped me become a better person through all of this, and I didn't want to leave God because I know I wouldn't have all the blessings in life I have now and have had in the past if it weren't for Him.

Good luck on your journey, wherever it may take you!

Answer 2

YEs, of course your faith changes. As you grow, you experience more things and dibble and dabble in more things. If you are not wholefully into the real belief of what you were raised in or someone is presenting to you, you will eventually change your attitude toward it.
As you go through life, tragedies, etc you choose to be an overcomer or a pessimist.
An example of what I said earlier....if you believed that your dad was the greatest thing since a loaf of bread and later you were TOLD that he was a whoremonger and beat your mother, that changes your opinion of him. You no longer believe that, yet you STILL LOVE him for him and know he is still your dad.
But because you were TOLD that, you believe that. Evidence LOOKED like it followed the accusation. BUT later your dad holds you through an experience in your life and supports you and beats up your boyfriend for doing the same things someone TOLD you he did and you TOTALLY change your opinion back to the wonderful beliefs you had of your dad.
I hope I am explaining it right.
I hope you find your way.

Answer 3

at the age of 21 this is not unusual. It is an age when you firmly grip independence and focus on your own views and not those you were raised in. However, as time goes by you begin to realize with age that the world and matters of faith are not answered by being a complex thinker. You also begin to see life with less intensity and more simplicity. Its called aging

Answer 4

Yes it does change. Most people between 16-25 have a faith crisis as they look for their own identity they try to get away from their teachings from parents. When you find you you are, you will accept what you believe. All 3 of my brothers went this time & returned to their Christian faith, my sister did not. l finally found my beliefs - not what someone else tells me to believe whether it is family or my Church. I am less rigid & less judgemental on myself & others. I expect myself to be more concerned for other's welfare & less concerned with what others think.
I went thru phases of lots of Church attendance to less attendance to I wouldn't miss Church if I had pnuemonia & I ended with I attend Church but will miss for family event or illness or today is not my day to attend. I think I am the best person I have ever been. My faith in Jesus Christ is stronger now that I listen to him not society.
Good luck on your path of life. Try not to get too far off the path - it can be hard to find your way back if you want to return.

Answer 5

I had more faith when I was young and I am trying to get it back. We are born with everything we need for life. Then here comes society that takes us and educates us for 18 years to function on the lowest levels of our human made utopia. Society places veils over our eyes one at a time until we can't even see anymore. And we fill our ears with noise to drown out the small still voice of our Creator. That's how I've changed as I aged. :)
May GOD richly bless you.

Answer 6

I think as a teen you are more challenged by your own self to have an answer to EVERYTHING and when you don't get a 'good one' you choose to not believe. Many teens fall away from the church because they are self centered.. just as I was and all teens are. My faith didn't really go up and down. It stayed the same but as i got older there was more understanding and more things in my life that God fixed. More comfort, more blessings. My faith was always there, but I wondered why at times God didn't listen to me, and as I matured I knew He was.

Answer 7

I think it's normal to question and reject some (or all) of the teaching of religion as your ability to think for yourself increase. Sometime what you were taught and so firmly believed in is so far fetched and you are so disappointed by what appears to be just lies, that you reject any kind of religious belief.
But then, it is because you are a free thinker and you have a need to find the truth that you begin to turn inside yourself to find answers to the mystery of God. It is no longer the God of your childhood (long beard and all), but a God that you feel within you, around you, in the love you discover for someone else, in the sun, in the smile of a child, in the emotions you experience.
Freeing yourself of "religious" beliefs doesn't mean you reject God. You may just have rejected what didn't feel right to you, the part of God that has been "created" by man. You may have rejected that man-made God and the church that created the fantasy around him, but you may have found, or you may still find the essence of God. The universal God who lives in each one of us, in the sun, the clouds, the ocean, and the trees. The one who lives beyond nations, gender, race, sexual orientation, health status. The one who is part of you, and me and everyone, even if he/she is not recognized.

Answer 8

Life is about change and moving into new level's of understanding. I did the Christian thing as a child, and then found myself questioning the bible a great deal as life give me experiences. Then I went through a stage of non belief. Now in my late forty's in many ways I find myself returning to the bible with a new understanding of how to read it. If you read it literally your basically lost with lots of questions. But now I read it like a code.....with new understandings. It hasn't been an easy road but I must say its been a very interesting one, and I suspect I will keep growing into new thoughts forever.

Answer 9

My faith has changed as I age. It has become stronger as I learn more and more about my GOD and see the way that He has worked and is working in my life. I look back at the things that He has brought me through and am amazed by His love. I know that whatever tomorrow holds He will be with me there too. God Bless ya

Answer 10

I was brought up Christian and as I kept reading the Bible I asked Christ where he was all the years missing in the Bible. So the next day I went to The International Society for Krishna Consciousness for lunch at their Gonad's Restaurant I ended up getting The Bhagavad-Gita by Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada at their Gift Shop.. It changed my life. Everything made sense, all my questions where answered. I am a better Christian then ever and I actually know who Christ is and who God is and Who I am and what this world is and where I am going. My faith increases and devotion grows. go to http://www.stephen-knapp.com for universal truth and our real purpose