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Why Believe

Life & Faith

Why does everyone else seem to feel God at church when I feel nothing?

Because visible emotion is not a reliable measurement of someone's relationship with God.

People respond very differently to music, crowds, silence, ritual and expectation. One person may cry during worship while another genuinely believes the same words and feels almost nothing.

That does not prove the emotional experience is fake. It does mean you should be careful about turning someone else's temperament into a spiritual standard.

Christianity does not define faith as successfully producing a particular feeling. The Bible itself contains long periods of spiritual dryness, lament and people asking why God feels absent.

So don't manufacture an experience because everyone around you appears to be having one.

Feelings can be meaningful, but they fluctuate. A quieter faith is not automatically a weaker one.

And remember: you can see other people's expressions at church. You cannot see everything happening inside them.

Bible quotations in these answers are generally taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Some biblical wording may be paraphrased or follow other translations.

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