Have you felt your faith tested?

no.. my faith hasnt been tested here by discussions made. if anything its been made more steadfast. there have been times when attacked or disrespected.. had people downright be vicious even.. where ive had to bite back the things that really popped into my head to reply with.. not that youd know it by the way i DID respond.. but my reactions were justifiable and quite authorized i beleive. theres been a few who have enlightened me.. i dont detest ALL christians anymore by the examples some have set here of themselves.. including you. and honestly up until this place.. there was only one person i could use as an example to not loath the entire bunch of you. so i thank you edgy.. from the bottom of my heart.. for being a good and decent example of the religion you follow, and making this heathen not be quite so quick to cringe in the presence of your kind. ..;hugs & kisses;..

I have never been a really religious person. I prayed at my own pace and I really hated it when I was forced to go to Sunday mass knowing that my heart was not in it. When we found out that our baby had a congenital problem and we didn't know how she would be able to cope with it, our faith was really tested. I prayed (and so did all my family members) so hard to all the saints I knew. I fervently prayed 9 novenas at a time. I cried while praying. I think I never prayed that hard before. Fortunately, after 15 operations, our daughter is now a healthy toddler. God is good all the time. He will never really give us something we cannot solve. He will always be there for us.

Ive never questioned my "core beliefs." But I am always opened to new and enlightened interpretations and understandings of my belief structure, specifically, the Bible. I guess this is because I believe the Bible to be subjective. If a person brings to light a point and it makes sense to me, I'll study on it and see if it is something I can adhere to. If my beliefs are challenged, it is actually something I greatly enjoy. Strange, huh?

Mylot has driven me to study the faith into which I was born: Christianity. Frankly, I was so shocked with the hell, sin, and satan talks in here that I started reading the Bible (for the first time). I wanted to find out where exactly God has condemned all sinners to hell, and where Satan first appears in the Bible. The Bible shocked me to the core. Was this really the God the Father I was believing in all these years? I thought. This God was jealous, vengeful, and cruel!! I couldn't read the Bible anymore because I was too upset. I started browsing for the truth behind Christianity. I read loads about early Christian history, Mithraism, and related topics. Yes, I can say that Mylot is responsible for all this. I began to question my faith in a new way. I am not a Christian anymore; I guess I never was. The God I worship doesn't have the qualities the Biblical God has. I am afraid all I know about Jesus is a handful of teachings ascribed to him. I don't even know what he looks like, and his similarity to Mithra is just too much...Yes, Mylot has put me on the quest for God, which, I think is an eternal quest. All of us are doing it.

I have felt my faith tested on numerous occasions. Not totally by someone else, but by things happening in my own life. I dealt with a form of cancer last year and it was hard. I felt like my faith was being so tested and I needed to cling to it in order to make it through. Someone of another faith has elightened me on different levels. I learned about another faith and still grew within my own.

Once, I let "man" tell me the rules behind and of the Bible. Then I started reading and searching for my own answers to what I truly believe in. The voice of reason from other people from various belief systems has opened my eyes to many truths. Yes, knowing the different belief systems and cultures has lead me to find my total belief or spiritual self. I thank all of those that have opened these doors for me. Mainly, http://the reluctant-messenger.com/main.htm Doors have opened for me there that "knocked me for a flip" when those truths began to surface.

I think it's great that people of all faiths can be friends on myLot. I have learned a lot from the people of various faiths, even the ones I disagree with or the Atheists. I think the computer is a safer way to explore faith than getting into a verbal debate. Here, you can always hit the delete key before you post (which too many people sadly don't do), but you cannot take back words once they are spoken no matter how much you would like to.

I have never ,ever had my faith tested on account of reading discussions in this forum. I firmly believe in the policy 'each to one's own' and all of us are entitled to our opinions. Even if I read some very forceful response or comment to my response I just read and understand the other point of view but never would I argue in favour of mine or put down another person. If the person is forceful in his or her belief well and good .It only would keep the person in peace. I would never allow another point to convince me regarding my faith, because as such the term' faith' is based not on scientific evidence or proof.It springs from within .

Great discussion, and I have read all the responses and you are handling this very well. Kudos to you :) My faith has not been tested - but my patience sure has. I have very unique spiritual beleifs that work very well for my life. I give every angle due consideration, then follow what my gut tells me. I would never expect someone to follow my personal spiritual path because it is mine alone. If anyone wishes to walk with me, I welcome the company, with the knowledge that in the end we all have our own roads to travel. I guess in some small ways discussions here on MyLot have made me question some things. However in many cases it has reaffirmed my disgust for organized religion. One thing I HAVE learned that I can give partial credit to MyLot is that everyone striggles with discrimination. Being a gay man I have sometimes had to endure bible thumpers and fire and brimstoners. But then, the next day I will see people attacking the people who attacked me saying THEY are sinfull and going to hell. So where does this cycle stop? When will people learn to accept people for ALL of our differences? I would like to see more celebration of diversity, instead of condemnation for differences. MyLot has taught me that it IS possible in some cases. Not all though.

Well actually there was this time that I felt that my faith was tested when all the bad things are happening to me even though I'm the faithful one and a friend who is really not that faithful receives more blessings than I. So I just felt that it's unfair but soon I realized that I am also as blessed as he is

I would say that my faith is tested on a regular basis. I try to have faith and hold on as much as I can. I pray for help and strength that things will work out in my life and that my son will have a good life. I also count my blessings that I have a pretty good home life. There are struggles here and there and I like to keep believing that things will work out through faith.

yes my faith has been really tested.. it seem like i'm a situation that is so hard to hold on to.. but i had a big faith and I relied on that.. our faith can move mountains..