This is a sponsored post on behalf of Linkvehicle.

Although 84 percent of the world’s population professes some kind of faith, most people do not spend as much time nurturing and growing their beliefs as they would like. It is easy to be too distracted by the stresses and obligations of everyday life to make practicing one’s spirituality a priority.

However, you stand to enjoy numerous benefits if you focus on strengthening your faith. Some of these benefits are tangible, while others are more subtle, but all are worth the effort it takes to get there.

4 Ways Deepening Your Faith Can Improve Your Life

1. Gain Perspective

Along with strong faith tends to come the belief that your life has a purpose, which copious studies have shown to be important to being mentally healthy. Having belief in a higher power or in something greater than yourself has a way of changing how you look at the world. When you believe in the potential for eternal happiness, one bad day does not bring you down for long.

Things like traffic, car trouble, and forgotten lunches can ruin your day if your experiences are limited to the present moment, but if you believe that your life has a mission and an ultimate purpose, these things might roll off your back more easily. When people you care about hurt or disappoint you, it is helpful to be able to fall back on a belief in the power of forgiveness. Overall, the perspective you can gain from having faith can give you a more positive outlook on your entire life.

2. Gain Fellowship

Any time you become involved with a group people who have similar goals as you, but different ideas for getting there, you have the chance to become a more well-rounded person. Improving your spiritual life is one way you can experience such a transformation. This is because an important part of strengthening your faith is connecting with others who have similar beliefs and ideals as you. Discussing your beliefs with peers can help you more fully understand what you already know, as well as become educated on topics with which you are less familiar.

Thanks to the Internet, you are not limited to just your local houses of worship for finding fellowship. On the contrary, there are websites and forums that are dedicated to just this purpose. For example, The Way International blog connects people from around the world and provides them with educational materials that are meant to inform lively discussions. These discussions can lead to deep and lasting friendships, which make sturdy buffers against life’s many storms, obstacles, and pitfalls.

3. Increase Your Discipline

In order to strengthen your faith life, you will probably have to form some new habits. You may choose to devote fifteen minutes per day to prayer, or perhaps you will commit to reading three chapters of the Bible each morning. These activities are like daily exercises that make you more spiritually fit. No matter what method you use to strengthen your faith, it is likely to inject an extra dose of discipline into your life.

Once you prioritize one faith-related activity, you will probably find that you need to be more organized about how you spend the rest of your time. Instead of feeling busier, though, you are likely to find that you are accomplishing more than ever because you are allotting your time more efficiently. With this improved discipline, you might even begin to perform better at work and stick to your health goals, which can lead to the worldly benefits of promotions and well-being.

4. Become More Selfless

A central tenet to most religions is to put the interests of others before your own. This is a lifelong struggle for almost everyone. It is nearly impossible to perfect this practice, but it is always worth trying again no matter how many times you miss the mark. Becoming less selfish can improve your relationships in a number of ways, but the benefits of doing so reach far beyond just you and your own life.\

When you focus on putting others first, you become a better partner, parent, sibling, son or daughter, and friend. You can even learn to be more considerate to the strangers who you cross paths with each day. When people’s needs are met, they feel loved and accepted. This not only makes them feel closer to those who treat them with kindness, but it also makes them feel happier in general and more likely to pay that treatment forward. A world full of happier, more secure people would be a great place to live, and such a world starts with you.

Ultimately, you should not attempt to deepen your faith solely because it might benefit you—that method is sure to backfire. Rather, try to deepen your faith because you want to be a better person and be a blessing to the people around you. The benefits will not just magically appear, but as you authentically grow your faith, you should start to notice them arising in your life. Increasing your faith is not an easy path—in fact, it is a lifetime journey—but it is eternally worthwhile.