This course is based on tried-and-true concepts that help people make lasting changes to their behavior. It would be thoughtless of us, however, if we didn’t share another factor that can make a BIG difference in a person’s transformation: a relationship with God. So, we’ve included a unique feature in this course: “Faith Perspective” topics.

Why did we do this? Spirituality in general helps us make sense of the world, answering first-order questions of life such as “Why am I here?” and “What is my purpose?” As you’ll see later, it can also resolve doubts we have about ourselves, like “Am I lovable, valuable, and worthy?” Spirituality offers a wider perspective on the challenges we face and allows us to rely on a power greater than ourselves for things that are beyond our control. 

Specifically, we want to point you to the benefits and power of having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. To introduce you to this relationship, the Faith Perspective topics will hopefully begin to show you who God is—the holy, all-powerful, creator of the universe—and give you a glimpse of how he sees you, his beloved child. 

Each Faith Perspective topic contains a verse from the Bible—God’s love letter to you—and a brief explanation of how that message connects to the material we’re covering. We’ve also included some reflection questions for you to ponder. Through these topics, we hope you will discover how relevant this relationship is to your life and the journey you’re on. 

Most importantly, we hope these topics will encourage you to spend even more time getting to know God and hearing what he has to say to you. This will be so helpful in realizing the peaceful, abundant life he intended you to have.

If spirituality just isn’t for you, or you’ve had some bad experiences with religion, we are sorry to hear it. Sadly, sometimes we humans have misrepresented who God truly is. We hope you’ll keep an open mind and peruse these Faith Perspective topics anyway. Don’t let bad experiences or preconceived notions prevent you from exploring the true goodness and power of this relationship. We have made these topics optional because, like God, we never want to force a relationship. 

There is more in The God Factor section on the Ananias Foundation website about what it means to have a relationship with God, why it matters, and how to get it. You can get started now, however, with the first Faith Perspective topic.