Two studies examining the effect of being spiritual, being religious, or being neither measured quality of life and mental health — and found similar results. Both agreed that being religious leads to the greatest happiness, mental health, and overall quality of life.

One of the studies, involving 782 adults, found that those with high levels of religiousness found both greater meaning in life and greater peace. This translated into greater health and quality of life.

The second study examined 1,046 people and classified them as being very spiritual and very religious, very spiritual and not very religious, or not very spiritual and very religious. Those with high religiousness — even with low spirituality — had less anxiety and depression, and greater optimism and happiness.

The conclusion of both studies is that being truly religious, believing in God as the creator, was critically important to leading a happy and fulfilling life.

Linked to the decline in religious beliefs is the disturbing rise in suicides, especially teenage suicides. In 2017, 47,173 people took their own lives in the United States — more than double the number in 1999. Among teenagers and preteens (ages 10 to 18), the number of attempted suicides using poisons doubled between 2011 and 2018 from 39,000 to more than 78,000.

One of the major factors in those numbers is that secularists have destroyed people’s sense of there being a meaning in life. Without meaning, life can seem empty and lonely, without hope of a better future.

Alienation also drives this sense of desperation. People living in developed countries have more material wealth than ever before, yet are dissatisfied.

Philosophers, poets, and the writers of the Bible all tells us that the struggle of hard times combined with perseverance builds character. One of my favorite poems, by Robert Browning Hamilton, reads: “I walked a mile with pleasure, she chatted all the way, but left me none the wiser for all she had to say. I walked a mile with sorrow and ne’er a word said she; but, oh, the things I learned from her, when sorrow walked with me.”

A knowledge of our Creator gives us comfort and hope, and imparts meaning to our lives. These studies clearly support what the Bible says about this subject.