Life Stages of Faith PART ONE

It has been said that faith is something that must be constantly maintained, such as a testimony. This concept has led me to theorize about the levels or types of faith. From information I have received from humans of all sorts including religious authorities, observations and personal prayer I have decided and believe that faith has important developmental stages that I believe are necessary for a complete and wholesome belief through faith. Faith is something that changes, evolves and has maturity levels like much else. Maturity, problem solving, logic, and lifestyle are all things that humans develop and change. When searching about faith as a concept on the web, LDS.org says, “Faith is much more than passive belief. We express our faith through action—by the way we live.” If the way we live evolves and changes, than does not our faith also?

In the description of faith from the same source, it says that “‘desire to believe’ can lead us to ‘give place’ for the word to be ‘planted in heart’. Then we will feel that the word is good, for it will begin to enlarge our souls and enlighten our understanding. This will strengthen our faith. As we continually nurture the word in our hearts, ‘with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.’ (See Alma 32:26–43.)”

How does a tree start; as a seed falling from its creator of course. The seed is planted in a place where it can grow if given the opportunity and nurture. Humans are the same, it the parents are fertile and have created some earth for the child it will grow. If the child is strong enough to overcome any obstacles, be them large or small, through the pregnancy than it is born. Same if the seed is given enough care to sprout and grow into a tiny green sprout with a leaf or two and some little roots, but the seed itself is depleted. Working alone to digest, breath and learn the infant and sprout are vulnerable to persuasion, they eat what is given, they take what can be reached and they stretch and grow, absorbing everything they touch into themselves for they have not yet the ability to distinguish themselves from anything else around them, if something is not at that moment part of their life, they have no memory of it. If it is a need they have a yearning, but understand they do not.

It may seem that off topic is how I have traveled, but I deem that not the case. Faith being a seed, I reason that that has more moaning than the need to plant and establish it. To have a seed means that it has came from somewhere, hopefully somewhere with goodness and health, but somewhere nevertheless. It is impossible for the donor, or teacher of the concept faith to be anonymous, like a seed from a tree will be a tree, or the seed from a shrub a shrub. The teacher will, through explaining the exercise and model of faith direct the receiver in a direction to apply that theory. It is true that people do nothing but teach themselves, but to lean there must be something available in their consciousness or sub-consciousness to learn. Given only what they have accessible the individual starts developing their faith according to the knowledge they have. Now the people that are developing this faith are much too young to be aware that that is even what it is. It is as simple as ‘mom will come back’, or ’taking a nap will make you stronger and stay healthy’. ­It is not till logic, accompanying experiences, and the application there of are applied that faith moves on to the stage of sprout and infant.