8 Stages of Faith - 8 Stages of Frustration
Today, Abraham is regarded as the father of faith. When all
hope, as a human
possibility, failed, Abraham placed his hope in God. Sure, Abraham had some
anxious moments, but God did not count these against him. Abraham did not
refuse to face reality. He chose to look beyond his difficulties to the Lord
and His promises. Let us look at eight stages of maturity in faith and their
alternative eight stages of frustration:
8 Stages of Faith - 8 Stages of Frustration
1. Basic Trust - A firm belief in the reliability of God and the truth of
His
word. Just as a child learns to implicitly trust its mother, so a young
Christian relies on the Lord for its spiritual leading, feeding and
protection.
1. Suspicion - A doubt that God or others care about one's best interests.
One who inclined to doubt the genuineness of others' motives.
2. Confidence - One develops a firm reliance on the certainty of God's
grace,
counsel and enabling.
2. Fear - One develops a deepening sense of apprehension that perceives
people, circumstances and new ideas as threatening.
3. Innovation - When a person knows one's value before God they are free to
initiate ideas, services and love.
3. Inhibition - When a person lacks a mature faith he or she tends to shy
away from taking any risks. A person who is inhibited resists thinking or
acting in new ways.
4. Productivity - The deeper one's faith, the greater capacity an individual
has to generate the spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, or self-control.
4. Inferiority - When a person fails to show fruit over time, he or she
experiences feelings of shame, emptiness or futility. Often times people try
to compensate for these inadequate feelings by inventing some cause to
justify the efforts.
5. Integration - When a person grows one is able to integrate his or her
beliefs with truth in the realities around them.
5. Confusion - One who fails to grow in faith becomes increasingly
frustrated
and confused. This failure to integrate his or her faith into reality leads
them into further confusion about people, ideas and situations. A distorted
perspective leads to dysfunctional actions.
6. Friendly Intimacy With Others - When a person becomes closer to the Lord
they are free to get closer to people. There is no fear in love as it casts
out the fear of being misunderstood or hurt.
6. Cool Estrangement - These people experience an increasing sense of
loneliness and feelings of alienation. Human contacts start to become
unsatisfying. Pretensions get erected keep people from hurting one's
feelings.
7. Creativity - The person who grows in faith is one who brings to birth
original ideas. Inventing new programs, services, or activities keeps this
person from becoming stale.
7. Static - A person who fails to grow in faith stagnates in the development
of his or her mind, attitudes, and actions.
8. Christ-Likeness - A fully mature person increasingly becomes more like
the
Lord in thought, speech and action. A great person's faith allows him or her
to see things from God's point of view.
8. Regret - A person sinks to a deep level of sorrow, remorse, and distress
over the loss of missed opportunities.
Paul J. Fritz
Answers2Prayer subscriber PPaulfritz@aol.com
Published in newsletter: March 10, 2002