Faith shapes decisions, actions and identity

How much of a role does faith play in our daily lives? Do we turn to God when faced with … well … life? Are our actions and decisions made with God in mind? The overwhelming response from Australian church attenders is ‘yes’ when it comes to whether their Christian faith influences their daily actions and decisions. Beyond actions, they also affirm that faith shapes their personal identity and is part of who they are.

 

Faith plays a role in everyday decisions and actions 

According to the 2021 National Church Life Survey (NCLS), the clear majority of Australian churchgoers say that their faith impacts and informs the decisions and actions of their daily lives. The results show that 93% affirm that faith directly impacts these aspects of daily life. 

It is apparent that knowledge of God and their Christian faith is incredibly important to Australian churchgoers and has a massive influence on how they live their lives. Only about 6% of church attenders were neutral or disagreed about the contribution of their faith to their daily lives, when it came to their everyday decisions and actions.

Faith also influences how people think about their identity

We directly asked attenders a question about their faith and identity in the 2021 NCLS. We wanted to know if their faith in God is an important part of who they are.

Findings reveal that about 95% of churchgoers affirm that their faith in God is an important part of their identity (70% strongly agree and 25 % agree).

So the majority of people who attend church say their connection with God, and their attendance at a worship service on the weekend extends not only to their lives outside the building but to the very core of their person.

We can surmise that a person with a lively, active faith not only has a trust or belief in God, a knowledge of Christian doctrine or teaching, and but also incorporates that faith into their self-image and sense of personal identity. They also use their faith to inform daily behaviour and small and large decision-making.

In both cases, the 2021 NCLS results show that the vast majority of Australian churchgoers (93-95%) affirm the importance of their faith in identity, decisions and actions everyday.