Why is God so difficult to believe in? It is an interesting question and one that I think I have some experience in answering. I have not always believed in God. I had to develop that belief through various means. I suppose that I will have to break it down for examination.
Why would be the first part of the question. We always have to have a reason to do something. Otherwise our entire life would be robot-like and there would exist no will of man in order to pursue that which brings his life meaning. That brings up a whole slew of new questions that we could be asking as well. These are questions that we should all ponder at least once in our lives. What is the meaning of life? What purpose am I serving in my life. Why is life worth living in the first place. When we pose these questions and answer them honestly we must use logic. That seems to be the only useful tool in tackling these tough questions. Back to the point at hand, we must consider our reasons.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is a classic law of physic that also finds it's way into many areas of philosophy. It rings to the same tune as 'do unto others which you would have done unto you'. What I am getting at here is the active part of the reason, which is the effort that we use to support that reason. We have a choice placed in front of us and we choose. How is that motivation found? Obviously this relates to this question perfectly. Can most people actually confess that they have never been confronted with the choice of a spiritual position? I'd say that if you are reading this article or anything of the like you could not answer that in the negative. Our choices are motivated by our reasons, but often our reasons can be quite blurred. Therefore, I believe that I can conclude that our reasoning comes from a very basic moral level which we have developed over time in our lives. If one is brought up in a Christian household then most likely their choice to accept God will come from the reason of their moral upbringing. For them it would just not be right to turn away from God. That was ingrained into them. For others it is not the same. Many are not brought up in that environment, so we come across our reasoning in a different way.
The difficulty of belief in my opinion is simple. It is selfishness and pride. I look at myself and my life over the last few years and from where I stand it is in bold writing how obvious this is. For years I lived as a non-believer and for those years I made one bad decision after another. There reasons for these bad decisions were found in my motivation to make them. That motivation was purely self-indulgent. I wanted this for ME, I wanted that for ME, etc. Family meant much less to me than I meant to myself. Friends were thought of in the same light. My own story there is a very dramatic disproportionate level of love that I gave out to others versus myself. For some I am sure that the levels are not as dramatic, but it is there. Be aware, I am about to make a very bold statement...please do not take it personal! If there is not a service towars something higher than yourself, for example the common good and welfare of others, than your life loses a great deal of it's meaning and purpose. I am not saying that it makes one worthless, only that it lessens the impact that you have on others and the world. There are billions of people in the world and we all live under the same rules and regulations. There are many things that govern us which are universal. I must conclude that God is difficult to believe in simply because we cannot get over ourselves. It requires a great deal of effort and motivation to allow yourself to willfully surrender to a greater purpose. It is not easy, but from where I stand now, it is well worth it.