Our faith is dynamic and shifting, not because life’s “truths” change but rather because we, the beings who believe, change. We cannot underestimate how much our faith evolves as we change. In the same way, a sweater comforts you in winter but suffocates you in the summer heat, a belief may flourish during one season and weigh down on you in another.

When we go through periods of theological change, changing our beliefs means that we can quickly feel stranded and stuck because those beliefs no longer do the thing they once did. Former beliefs once helped regulate our emotions or carry us through grief. Sure, you’re now more “adult” for no longer believing that “everything happens for a reason.” But that belief once helped ease your anxiousness before. What helps when you feel anxious now? 

My initial interest in theological change was mainly about our letting go of and leaving behind beliefs that wounded, shamed, and condemned me. But for the past few years, I have focused on creating and claiming beliefs that help move faith forward. The current throughout it all is theological change—the metamorphosis and transformation of our beliefs about God that shape our identity, belonging, and purpose.  What we assume about beliefs and how they function impacts how we treat ourselves and others when going through a spiritual transition of beliefs.