How Religion Taught Me to Take a Passive Approach to Life

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I think everyone interprets religious teachings differently, depending on who they are, what they’ve been taught, and how they’ve been taught. And some people take those teachings more literally than others.

In my case, not only did I learn to take religious teachings literally. I then invented other rules that had to be followed based on what I learned. This led to the development of mental health issues over the years. And even though I now consider myself spiritual, not religious, I’m still dealing with some of the side effects of having been religious for so long.

I now understand that I have to practice my own kind of spirituality, one based on my own beliefs. And I believe everyone should practice their own version of spirituality, one that resonates with them. I don’t think people should just follow tradition without ever examining why they believe what they believe. But that’s just my opinion.

How Religion Led to a Passive Approach

Looking back, one of the things I realize is that religion taught me to take a passive approach to life. This was just my interpretation of religious teachings, though. It’s not that everyone who’s religious takes a passive approach. But that was how my brain interpreted what I was learning.

The way I understood things before, I wasn’t supposed to make big decisions about my life. I wasn’t supposed to be the one steering things. I wasn’t supposed to do things on my own. I was supposed to wait to be told what to do. I was supposed to wait for the plan to be revealed. I was supposed to wait for instructions from my Higher Power.

This meant that I wasn’t responsible for making the big decisions for my life, like what to do in terms of a career. I was just supposed to wait until that was made plain. And if it wasn’t plain—what I was supposed to do—I couldn’t do anything about it. All I could do was wait. And maybe hope to marry a rich husband.

I no longer believe this. I believe we’re supposed to take an active role in our lives. I believe we’re all capable of doing great things. But we have to believe that before we can actually take the steps necessary to do those great things.

Religion and Limiting Beliefs

People in the personal development space often talk about limiting beliefs. If you’ve never heard of them before, limiting beliefs are exactly what they sound like—beliefs that limit us. They limit our potential. They limit our growth. They limit our idea of what’s possible for us.

In my case, religion filled my head with a lot of limiting beliefs. And one of the biggest ones was probably the belief that I had very little control over my own life. I was mostly just a passive participant in a larger story.

I’ll admit that this belief is still something I’m working to uproot. It’s one of those side effects I’m still dealing with after staying in religion for such a long time. But I’ve seen examples of people overcome all kinds of limiting beliefs and reasons they couldn’t do things that seemed impossible for them, given their circumstances or history. They serve as inspiration for me.

And while I do still believe in there being a bigger picture, I also believe that we aren’t meant to be passive participants in it. I believe our role is meant to be active. Sometimes we have to go with the flow. But more often we have to take charge.

Final Thoughts

I believe we’re capable of overcoming any obstacle on the path to whatever it is we most desire. But first, we have to be clear on what we want. And then we have to be willing to do what’s necessary to get it.

But I’ve also learned that it’s not just about willingness. Sometimes we have to take time to examine what might be holding us back on the inside, like limiting beliefs.

Sometimes those beliefs can be very deeply rooted. And I’ve found that religion has a way of making it seem that the beliefs they’re teaching are absolute truth, which can make them especially hard to uproot. But I believe that if we really want to, we’re capable of removing any beliefs that are keeping us from moving forward and replacing them with more helpful ones.

The process may not be as quick as we would like, though. So, we would do well to be patient with ourselves.

~ Ashley C.

Last updated: October 16, 2025