From inherited to owned
Plenty of young adults hit a moment where the faith they grew up with suddenly feels borrowed — like a coat that was handed to them rather than one they picked. That moment isn’t a crisis to hide. It’s an invitation. God is not nervous about your questions, and a faith you’ve actually wrestled with holds far more weight than one you never examined.
Owning your faith doesn’t mean starting from zero or throwing out everything you were taught. It means moving from “my family believes” to “I believe” — knowing what you hold, and why.
“Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him.”Colossians 2:6–7 (NIV)
What a rooted faith looks like
Paul pictures the mature believer as a tree — rooted and built up, drawing life from Christ himself. Roots aren’t visible, but they’re what keep a tree standing when the weather turns. In practice, roots grow through ordinary, repeated things: Scripture you actually read, prayer that’s honest, a church you belong to, and obedience in small stuff.
You don’t manufacture conviction by trying harder to feel it. You build it by staying close to Jesus long enough to know he’s real.
Doubt is part of the process
Owning your faith almost always runs through some honest doubt. That’s normal, and Scripture is full of people who brought hard questions straight to God. Don’t treat doubt as the enemy of faith — unexamined, buried doubt is far more corrosive than doubt you’re willing to explore in the open.
Take the questions seriously enough to actually chase down answers, and take God seriously enough to keep talking to him while you do.
Try this week
- Write down, in your own words, what you actually believe and why.
- Pick one honest doubt and spend a week reading and asking people you trust about it.
- Choose one root to grow this month: Scripture, prayer, or committing to a church.
- Talk with an older believer whose faith you respect — ask how theirs became their own.
Questions to sit with
- Is my faith mostly inherited, or have I made it my own?
- What’s one question I’ve been avoiding instead of exploring?
- Where do I need to sink deeper roots this season?
Jesus, I don’t want a secondhand faith. Root me in you — let what I believe become genuinely mine. I bring you my questions, not to escape you, but because I want to know you for real. Amen.