Religious Activity

Building a relationship with Heavenly Father through active church attendance has long lasting effects. Talk to your children about why going to church is a good idea.

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Research indicates that religious involvement and engagement influence family-related decisions (like the type of marriage, timing of marriage, and fertility), and that family decisions (for example, divorce or voluntary childlessness) can negatively influence religious involvement.

A man with serious religious commitment and involvement, on average, is more likely than one with little or no religious involvement to:

remain sexually chaste before marriage and faithful to his marriage vows and thus not endanger his wife and children with sexually transmitted diseases nor father a child out of wedlock

be and remain committed to marriage and children even during times of difficulty and thus not bring the trials and challenges of divorce upon his wife and children

be highly involved in the lives of his children and parent with higher degrees of emotional warmth

practice kindness and mercy in his relationship with his children and be less likely to abuse his children

remain involved with his children in the face of challenging circumstances such as dissolution of marriage or disability of a child

avoid practices that harm family relationships such as substance abuse, crime, violence, child abuse, pornography, gambling, and idleness

Participants’ belief that prayer enhanced experiences of emotional validation; promoted accountability toward deity; de-escalated negative interactions, contempt, hostility, and emotional reactivity; enhanced relationship behavior; facilitated partner empathy; increased self-change focus; encouraged reconciliation and problem-solving; and promoted a sense of guidance from God.

"Research in the past 50 years routinely finds a positive association between a couple’s religious beliefs and behaviors [practices] and the quality of their marriage… The extent to which husbands and wives hold similar religious beliefs and participate jointly in religious practices… appears to be one of the stronger religious predictor[s] of marital quality.”

 
Of the more than 200 total studies focused on both faith and mental health, roughly 80 percent indicate greater hope or optimism, greater well-being, a greater sense of purpose and meaning in life, lower depression, less anxiety and fear, and less negative coping among those who are religious.