Religion vs Faith?

       What is the difference between being religious and living a life of faith? Faith is a belief in something that may seem impossible.  Having faith is being absolutely confident that what seems impossible will occur if we live a life of service, sacrifice, and at times, perseverance.  Faith is not something we own.  It is not something we inherit from our parents.  It is not even something we get at church.  Certainly, the values that our parents inculcate in us will influence our faith.  Without doubt, worship at church contributes to the development of our faith.  But try to put your finger on your faith, and there isn’t one thing that you can point to.  Faith, like culture, is a way of life.  Living by faith is a way of life achieved through service and sacrifice for the greater good of others.  It is defined by our actions, particularly those towards others.

          A great misconception exists that being religious is synonymous with living a life of faith.  But think about it, there are a host of things you can do to be religious that do not in themselves exemplify faith.  This does not make any of those activities bad, but if you can involve yourself in a religious practice in isolation, it is not by itself, faith.  For example, knowing scripture helps you learn about religion but doing what scripture says, all the time, demonstrates faith in action.  Bible study is important, but it has no effect on faith if it does not change your behaviors and attitudes.  So what can we do to ensure that we do not become satisfied and stagnant with religion and fail to develop our faith?

What motivates our faith?

     Do we have an intrinsic tendency to follow God because we are genuinely interested in the life faith brings us and believe it to be the way we are meant to live?  Or do we merely follow religion out of extrinsic interests, guarding a possible reward after we die or out of fear of punishment?  Is it out of a curiosity of the unknown or is it out of fear of the unknown?  Some of us are intrigued by religion, but much more by faith, a quest of an unknown, a thirst to discover what is hidden in the Word, a hunger for a wisdom that is simply waiting to be unveiled.  Sometimes it is doubt that drives us.  Sometimes it is certainty. For some, the urge to follow Christ or experience faith or seek to know more about the unknown is internal.  For others, making sure they maintain an outward display of what living a Christian life is supposed to look like is influenced by external factors.