They affect how safe you feel.
They affect how much you trust people.
They affect whether you open up, repair, apologize, forgive, or stay defended.
That is not religion.
That is psychology.
Psychology is a science, and psychology can explain how beliefs shape the nervous system.
A person who believes reality is random is not only holding an idea.
He is training his nervous system to live in a world where nothing is guiding life.
Pain has nowhere deeper to go.
Responsibility feels heavier.
Vulnerability feels more dangerous.
Self-worth has to be built from mood, success, approval, intelligence, appearance, comparison, or control.
That is where low self-esteem loops grow.
The mind starts saying:
Nothing is guiding life.
Nobody is guiding reality.
My pain does not matter.
My choices do not matter that much.
I have to protect myself because reality is not trustworthy.
Those thoughts do not stay as thoughts.
They become a felt reality in the body.
They make a person more defended, more alone, and more trapped inside his own mind.
Belief in an Infinite Creator who is good does the opposite.
It teaches the nervous system that reality is not random.
Pain is not meaningless.
Responsibility is not pointless.
Goodness is not pretend.
Vulnerability is not foolish.
That does not mean life is easy.
It does not mean suffering disappears.
It means a person has a deeper place to stand while suffering.
That is why belief in The Creator is not the opposite of psychology.
It is one of the deepest ways the nervous system learns trust.
And when the nervous system learns trust, emotional maturity becomes easier.
Honesty becomes easier.
Repair becomes easier.
Closeness becomes easier.
A person becomes more emotionally available without becoming weaker, because his nervous system is no longer being trained by the belief that life is random, nobody is guiding reality, and closeness is unsafe.
Trauma research shows that the nervous system is not just a machine under the mind.
It has patterns.
It has reactions, it has a personality like a 2 year old.
Unhealthy beliefs like Atheism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism trigger the nervous system, in an unhealthy way.
The 13 principles of faith in a Creator as explained by the Rambam, Maimonides, are emotionally healthy.
Explore the NextSelf Blog. Start with this post explaining the world of souls. And my Youtube.
It lists all the difference patterns to study, understanding patterns is how one can develop 'Daas' [felt knowing].
Update: As awe, trust, and love deepen, they can allow greater openness and intimacy with the Creator. That intimacy can include sadness when you notice how much more of His goodness can be revealed.