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What is spiritual belief?
“Spiritual beliefs include the relationship to a superior being and are related to an existential perspective on life, death, and the nature of reality. Religious beliefs include practices/rituals such as prayer or meditation and engagement with religious community members” (Watkins et al., 2013).
Why is spiritual belief important?
Spiritual belief is a strength for individuals because it helps us develop a foundation for our morals, values, and beliefs. It gives us hope in our darkest days.
Is there one belief that is better than another?
NO!
Then why are there so much hate between different religions?
Long story short… I lied! I’m going to tell a long story about my spiritual belief development.
I grew up in a Christian home; I use the term ‘Christian’ vaguely here. My parents each had their own beliefs and takes on Christianity.
We attended church every Sunday. From an early age, I learned to memorize and to study the Bible. If you were to ask me basics about the Bible, I would be able to give you a quick and easy answer OR find the appropriate Bible verse within a few moments.
So, my mom’s half-brother used to be a pastor. And if he was the face of Christianity, no one would believe in God or Jesus Christ. He along with his wife had a lot of hate towards my mom and her sister. Almost every gathering or party that he hosted, he would not invite my mom or her sister. When he was diagnosed with cancer, no one told my mom. My ex-boyfriend, whose father was also a pastor in the same denomination as my mom’s half-brother, heard about it and he told me. When my mom’s half-brother passed away, one of my friends heard about it and told me.
When I was a teenager, my mom said very mean and cruel things to me. I was dating a boy whose parents believed in animism/shamanism. My mom told me that if I didn’t break up with him then she was going to sell me like an animal to him and his family. She told me that she was going to cut me off and would consider me dead. Then she proceeded to telling me to leave her house.
I was angry at my mother, at her half-brother, and at God. I told God that if the people who believed in him were such shitty people then I would rather not believe in him.
After that, I got into some trouble that led me to being suspended from school and landed me in juvenile court. I was ordered to one year of probation, one year of therapy, and community service.
I went back to God and said, okay you got me there. Maybe we can revisit our relationship.
This was when I really delved into the Bible to really learn about God and who he was. He was not this God that was so far out of reach without any emotion. He was an emotional God. He experienced happiness, sadness, anger, and jealously. He was also loving, merciful, and forgiving. And in learning about who he truly was, I learned about who I was: spiritually, culturally, etc. In my journey with God, I learned to forgive those who wrongly represented God to me.
So…why was my story relevant to this question? The point of my story was that when you truly understand your spiritual belief and its foundation, it helps you understand the world and others much better. It helps you heal and solidify your own identity. When you don’t truly understand your spiritual belief, it causes strife and hate because people make up things or rules all the time and use religion as the justification.
I will not deny that there aren’t any radical or extremists out there because there are, and they cause a lot of harm to others. They believe that their way is the only way. I will not say too much about them because I don’t know them personally, know their stories, know their traumas, and know their upbringings. However, when you have healed and have a firm understanding of your identity, you will be able to accept that others can have different spiritual beliefs. Even as believers of Christ, each and every one of our walks with the Lord are different.
What is the takeaway?
Spiritual belief is important in our lives. It doesn’t matter what your spiritual belief is as long as it is acting as a strength for you and is helping you make positive changes in your life, that is all that matters.
References
Watkins, Y.J., Quinn, L.T., Ruggiero, L., Quinn, M.T., & Choi, Y. (2013). Spiritual and religious beliefs and practices, and social support’s relationship to diabetes self-care activities in african americans. Diabetes Education, 39(2), 231-239.
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