How to Keep Your Faith Strong

1.Allow yourself to grieve for what you have lost. Losing our faith happens. It doesn’t mean we are broken – it just means our faith is not particularly strong at the moment. Acknowledge this and permit yourself to feel the sadness and pain the loss may bring. In order to change our condition, we must first acknowledge our reality. Name it, call out for it, or weep for it. Your cries will be heard. 2.Be patient with the uncertainty. Sometimes when we lose our patience, our emotions get in the way of our common sense and we begin to think the situation is larger than it actually is. When you are struggling with your faith, stay in the moment as long as you need. Your loss of faith may last for a few days or even a few weeks, but you will not be abandoned. Use this time to build your faith around the certainty there is a purpose created just for you. 3.Watch how you rebound and fill in the gaps. Above all, be true to yourself. When you feel your faith returning make certain it is your faith and not a need to begin feeling something, anything, even it is something that is not aligned with your core beliefs and values. When we fill the gaps with things we really don’t believe, our foundation begins to shift. We may stumble on this shakier ground because it doesn’t hold our weight as well. To take a step forward in life, we need a solid foundation to step from under our footing. The things deep in our hearts we know to be true give us that support, even when we are not feeling particularly strong. Somewhere deep in my heart I know my greatest work is still ahead of me. I know my wife will always be by my side and my children will love me forever. I know there is plan for me that is still being written. I know all of these things to be true and I call on them to provide a resurgence for my faith when I feel my soul begin to grow tired and falter. 4.Faith is resistible; learn not to resist, but to receive more. Our faith is never taken from us – we may just resist it from time-to-time. Our faith is a gift of grace and we get to choose if we want to receive it, or not. Often times we have a difficult time receiving good things. Either we don’t think we are worthy or we don’t believe in the gift’s authenticity. Receiving the gift of faith is no different. Faith lifts our hearts and gives us the energy to pursue our relationships and goals. It can be a scary deal to feel it’s power at times. We may even want to resist faith because we don’t trust how long it will stay with us. But when we learn to surrender to it, and allow ourselves to open up and receive its abundance, then faith will only multiple and manifest itself in our lives more, not less. 5.Get involved. Practicing faith takes action. Faith requires us to think, feel and believe. When we stand on the sidelines and expect our faith to arrive without any deliberate intent on our part, then we run the risk of missing the chance to jump into life. Get involved with the people and causes that touch your heart the most. Spend more time with your children, volunteer in your community, or get behind a group or organization you believe is able to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Your action, your involvement, will create tangible results that will allow you see that your faith is alive and is indeed growing. Like everything else we do, we get better at something the more we do it. Practicing and using our faith is no different. 6.Focus on the positive. If you find yourself coming back from a difficult situation where your faith has been tested, begin to look for the small, but positive things happening around you. Every good thought or encouraging experience is not an accident – these are signs to remind you of your purpose and the hope for what else is waiting for you. Sometimes I get discouraged and lose my faith, too. It may seem hypocritical that someone who writes about faith, inspiration and self awareness struggles with his faith. But I’m just being human when I do struggle. My faith strengthens when I receive an email or comment from a reader who tells me how something I wrote restored some measure of faith for them. By focusing on one positive remark, I can feel my dwindling faith begin to surge and grow again. 7.Have deep water faith in the shallow end. When I was in high school I worked as a lifeguard and swimming instructor. Most of the new swimmers I taught were young children whose parents wanted them to be safe and confident around the swimming pool. When my students entered the pool they looked a little apprehensive, but they went ahead and took the first step anyway because they knew their feet would touch in the shallow end. As I moved them further away from the shallow end and into deeper waters, their confidence, and faith, began to wane