Faith development as I understand it is a natural part of human development. We all instinctively have faith from birth i.e. a newborn will cry with the expectation to be fed and needs being tended to. A toddler will jump trustingly into it's parent's or significant other's waiting arms. A child naturally trusts in the 'goodness' of adults to look after him or her. We drive over a bridge with faith in it's construction to keep us safe. There are numerous daily examples of faith in action in everything we do. I believe we are all born with a measure of faith. Faith can be trampled on and quenched by negative life experiences, but also can grow and blossom in the right climate.
Mother had dutifully sent us children along to Sunday School, but it was traditional, dry and boring, mostly learning about morality and a history lesson, from the Bible stories. We were taught to fear God. One day I was invited by a friend to a Girls Brigade outreach meeting by a primary school friend. I was excited because this sounded different and I had many unanswered questions about God and Jesus. At the event, I heard for the first time that Jesus was alive! He had risen from the grave. I had heard it before, but that seemed a historical thing. It was exciting to find out He loved me and I could talk to Him in prayer. That made it personal. I has two shillings to spend and bought a 'precious' two inch picture, representing Jesus, which I kept secret.
When I got home, I looked at the picture and spoke to Jesus. I had heard I was meant to love Him, but being the practical problem solving child that I was, I knew I couldn't love Him as He was a stranger to me. Talking to a picture wouldn't suffice! So I told Him, "Jesus I know I'm supposed to love you, but how can I love you if I don't know you?" I continued to talk to Him, sensing that one day He would let me know Him, because He was alive and could hear me!
Mother had dutifully sent us children along to Sunday School, but it was traditional, dry and boring, mostly learning about morality and a history lesson, from the Bible stories. We were taught to fear God. One day I was invited by a friend to a Girls Brigade outreach meeting by a primary school friend. I was excited because this sounded different and I had many unanswered questions about God and Jesus. At the event, I heard for the first time that Jesus was alive! He had risen from the grave. I had heard it before, but that seemed a historical thing. It was exciting to find out He loved me and I could talk to Him in prayer. That made it personal. I has two shillings to spend and bought a 'precious' two inch picture, representing Jesus, which I kept secret.
When I got home, I looked at the picture and spoke to Jesus. I had heard I was meant to love Him, but being the practical problem solving child that I was, I knew I couldn't love Him as He was a stranger to me. Talking to a picture wouldn't suffice! So I told Him, "Jesus I know I'm supposed to love you, but how can I love you if I don't know you?" I continued to talk to Him, sensing that one day He would let me know Him, because He was alive and could hear me!
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