{"id":10989,"date":"2024-06-27T11:21:57","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T15:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=10989"},"modified":"2024-06-27T11:21:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T15:21:57","slug":"new-study-says-a-regular-connection-with-god-can-positively-improve-a-young-persons-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/06\/new-study-says-a-regular-connection-with-god-can-positively-improve-a-young-persons-life.html","title":{"rendered":"New Study Says A ‘Regular Connection With God’ Can Positively Improve a Young Person’s Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to new data from the American Bible Society\u2019s \u201cState of the Bible USA 2024 Report,\u201d the willingness to forgive is a powerful indicator of human flourishing. The most recent data, released last week, was predicated, in part, on a proclamation with which respondents were asked to agree or disagree. It\u00a0read<\/a>, \u201cI am able to sincerely forgive whatever someone else has done to me, regardless of whether they ever ask for forgiveness or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Respondents\u2019 responses to this statement offered key insights into how a willingness to grant forgiveness \u2014 a key concept embedded in the Christian faith \u2014 can impact people\u2019s happiness. The report reads, \u201cPeople who agreed most strongly with that forgiveness statement scored significantly higher than others in Human Flourishing and Hope Agency. People who disagreed scored lower.\u201d The \u201cState of the Bible USA 2024 Report\u201d considers human flourishing a concept that involves \u201chappiness, health, purpose, character, and relationships.\u201d Forgiveness is affiliated with each of these.<\/p>\n

The report continues, \u201cThose who \u2018agree strongly\u2019 that they can forgive others are a full two points higher on the overall flourishing score (7.6 to 5.4) than those who \u2018disagree strongly. We find a similar pattern when we turn to Hope Agency, with a huge disparity between the scores of those who strongly agree or disagree with the forgiveness statement.\u201d Plainly stated: Those who strongly agree they can forgive someone with or without an apology also score much higher on hopefulness, again underscoring the notion that forgiveness can help push people toward positive life experiences.<\/p>\n

One interesting area of focus in this most recent research surrounds Generation Z, young adults ages 18 to 27. Despite seeing what the American Bible Society called \u201crather troubling statistics\u201d about this generation being less connected to the Bible and church \u2014 and experiencing less hope and more stress \u2014 something truly fascinating happens when the Bible is thrown into the mix. Gen Zers who engage in Scripture are experiencing better lives than their peers who ignore the Bible. \u201cWhat about those in Gen Z who do engage with Scripture?\u201d Dr. John Plake, editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible series,\u00a0said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cNot only do they score higher on the Human Flourishing scale than other young adults who don\u2019t read the Bible \u2014 but they have the highest score of any generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plake said there\u2019s more research to be done in this arena, though there are some theories based on this most recent data. \u201cThis suggests that the unique challenges keeping young adults from flourishing are countered by a regular connection with God in Scripture,\u201d he\u00a0said<\/a>. As CBN News recently\u00a0reported<\/a>, Plake also told CBN News Christians have a \u201cgood reason for hope\u201d when it comes to the Gospel\u2019s impact on young people.<\/p>\n

He said 21 percent of Generation Z adults said in the \u201cState of the Bible\u201d survey that \u201cthey\u2019ve actually increased their use of the Bible within the last year.\u201d This is notable considering the ongoing discussion about generational replacement and younger Americans being less faithful than previous generations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to new data from the American Bible Society\u2019s \u201cState of the Bible USA 2024 Report,\u201d the willingness to forgive is a powerful indicator of human flourishing. The most recent data, released last week, was predicated, in part, on a proclamation with which respondents were asked to agree or disagree. It\u00a0read, \u201cI am able to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":10995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[170,2001],"class_list":["post-10989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible","tag-bible","tag-connect-with-god"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Study Says A 'Regular Connection With God' Can Positively Improve a Young Person's Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to data from the American Bible Society\u2019s \u201cState of the Bible USA 2024 Report,\u201d the willingness to forgive is a powerful indicator of growth.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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