THE ROLE OF FAITH 

I saved the most powerful- yet most controversial catalyst for both success and failure for last: FAITH.

Living in a religious society, I noticed a troubling trend:  an OVERRELIANCE ON FAITH alone, while completely disregarding its seamese twin: ACTION. This is quite ironic because the whole point of faith is to drive action, even when you have no evidence of being successful.

This makes faith one of the biggest catalysts for success because it defies the world’s logic. The world says,  “have all the facts before taking action”,  but Faith says, “act  even without facts and trust the results as promised by a higher source.”

Faith is not blind trust; it's you following a process you don't fully understand, while looking for proof in the results.  

The Effects of Faith

1. Faith gives you courage:  Faith grants you the will to take action, even when you don't physically see a  “light at the end of the tunnel”
2. Faith grows through proof: when you see proof of what the higher source promised, your faith deepens and compels you to take bolder and drastic actions.

That is basically the essence of faith. Its main purpose is to drive action.

Now let's dissect our modern-day misinterpretation of faith.

The modern-day misinterpretation of Faith

Modern-day faith is misinterpreted as waiting idly for a higher being to solve our problems (through miracles),  while we remain passive: praying, hoping, asking, but not acting.

When misinterpreted, faith ironically becomes a powerful driver of inaction, thus serving as a powerful catalyst to failure. This misinterpretation is dangerous, since it is written in almost all major religious texts that faith alone is not enough and must be paired with action. In the next section, we see how theology supports pairing faith with action.

Theological proof

Don't take my word for it; here are some examples from different religions:

Christianity (James 2: 21-26 NIV)

Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Islam (Qur’an, Surah Al-‘Asr 103) 

By the ˹passage of˺ time! Surely humanity is in ˹grave loss, except those who have faith, do good, and urge each other to the truth, and urge each other to perseverance.

Buddhism (SN 7.11 )

Faith is the seed, effort is the rain, and wisdom is the yoke and plow. Mindfulness is the plow-pole, and the Dhamma is the guiding ox.

Final thoughts

Faith is a double-edged sword. When properly understood, it serves as a powerful weapon to meet your goals. But if misunderstood, it can equally be a powerful weapon for failure - by trapping you in passivity while waiting endlessly for a miracle.

Understand its wisdom and use it to minimize your rate of failure.

WOW, you’ve learnt a lot. In the next and final section, we sum up everything we have learnt so far

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