“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
Interesting Study
Recently I read a study from the mid 90s which investigated the effects and behaviors of children. Particularly the behaviors of children being raised in a home that had a relationship with God. The study went on to research the opinions formed early on in one’s life and how they effected the individual later in life.
Study Summary
A person with positive experiences with God early on in life would be more inclined to view failures as setbacks and have a ‘try it again’ attitude and view God as helpful, allowing him/her to experience life in a more positive way.
These people whom had positive experiences with God tend to be less likely to battle feelings of unworthiness and low self-esteem.
This research allows us to see themes of optimism and self-esteem begin to rise in relation to faith.
The Correlation
The research went on to illustrate the effects of a relationship with God and overall happiness later in life. As you can imagine, people who claimed to have a close relationship with God continued to be more positive, optimistic and had a higher self esteem throughout life.
A Joyful Conclusion
Based on this research, we can see and probably all agree that an early exposure to God’s word and staying in his word throughout life provide a strong basis for overall happiness. Which happiness is a necessity to sharing our faith with others.
We Have a Gift to Share
We must remember that when we are sharing our faith, that we need to be excited to share the good news with someone! We need to be sure others are seeing our happiness that was given to us by our savior!
Jon Ross Henderson
MD5 Facilitator
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