Being good is at the core of religion, spirituality, and relating with God. Researchers do find that in many moral areas religious/spiritual persons do better and I know of no research demonstrating the opposite. But why is this? Are more moral people attracted to religion or does religion come first to produce a more moral person? Which comes first? Correlations or associations do not establish cause and effect.
There is one observation I have come to observe over my years of living and researching that addresses this question. Many find that God is so real to them that they pray, listen, and then feel that God prompts them to act. In such cases one must assume they are not asking how to act badly. In addition the act of praying for answers about how to act must be delivering some helpful answers otherwise the practice of prayer would have been dropped years ago. I do add in the last chapter of Becoming a Better Marriage Partner, that the key important question can be phrased as; “What would God have me do?” Therefore if you are a spiritual or religious person you have likely asked for moral guidance or strength.
The added benefit for the religious person is that bringing God into the process makes it harder to be self-centered and easier to be other-centered because God is the other. So even without understanding how the process really works the practice of trying to please God by being good or by simply asking God for guidance and strength helps one become a better person. Of course there are religious spiritual persons who are bad and non-religious persons who are good. But here is logic for believing that religion, spirituality, or a belief in God helps you become a better person.
Self-test Question: Is it sacrilegious, or in bad taste to become spiritual or religious for what God can do for you?
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