Conservative Americans who learned long ago never to trust the establishment media got an Exhibit A reminder of it on Tuesday, thanks to Minnesota's ever-exploding welfare-fraud scandal. A journalist for the inside-the-Beltway news outlet Politico took to social media to hint darkly that continued efforts to look under the rocks...

If last year left you discouraged or unfinished, this prayer helps you release what’s behind and lean into God’s promise that He’s still shaping new life within you.

If last year left you discouraged or unfinished, this prayer helps you release what’s behind and lean into God’s promise that He’s still shaping new life within you.

A prayer for a newborn baby is one of the most loving and special ways to show how much we care for God’s children. Powerful prayers for babies and their protection can be spoken, thought, or written. 

The following quotes, Bible passages, and short words of affirmation can be used daily to remind the cancer patients in your life of the hope and peace of God.

As I left the exam room in my family practice clinic, I realized the patient I had just seen was the third young woman that afternoon expressing moderate to severe depression symptoms. Each voiced the same aching questions: “Do I have a purpose in life?” and even “Is this life worth living?” National estimates of major depressive episodes in adolescents have skyrocketed over the last decade, jumping from 8 percent in 2009 to 16 percent in 2019 and reaching as high as 23 percent in female cohorts. A report from 2021 showed that approximately one in four adolescent females had seriously considered suicide at some point during their youth. Alarmingly, many of these symptoms persist into young adulthood. Generation Alpha (those born between 2010 and 2024) is now considered the most depressed generation on record. So we must ask, Why are so many adolescents and young adults today struggling with depression? And, more importantly, what can we do to help? Numerous factors contribute to rising adolescent depression rates—social media, increased exposure to bullying, childhood adversity, the COVID-19 pandemic, and so on. Yet one significant factor has received surprisingly little attention in academic and clinical circles: cultural decline in religious faith. Faith and Mental Health In her book The Awakened Brain, psychologist Lisa Miller writes, “Contemporary psychotherapy tended to characterize spirituality and religion as a crutch or defense, a set of comforting beliefs to lean on in hard times.” But what if we’ve misunderstood the role of faith in managing depression? Miller wonders whether the cultural decline in spirituality over the last several generations may be more than a passive trend—it could be a root contributor to the mental health crisis. In that case, a resurgence of spirituality and faith could help protect adolescents and young adults against depression. Emerging research supports this idea. While only half of adolescents treated with conventional methods (such as therapy and medication) experience a remission of their depressive symptoms within a year, spirituality may offer additional protection—especially against recurrent symptoms. A resurgence of spirituality and faith could help protect adolescents and young adults against depression. In her research, Miller defines spirituality broadly as a sense of connection, awe, or transcendence, or feeling “held by something greater.” She clarifies that while religion may support spiritual life, it isn’t the same as spirituality itself. Miller and her team found that this sort of broadly defined spirituality not only reduces the risk of recurrent depression but also physically restructures the brain in protective ways. Neuroimaging studies revealed that individuals at high risk for depression often have a thinner cortex in the brain regions that process emotional stimuli. In contrast, individuals who rate spirituality or religion as “highly important” showed healthier neural structures, including cortical thickening—an indicator of resilience. This cortical thickening, according to research, was indeed protective against more subtle levels of depressive symptoms. Moreover, Miller’s data showed that those who maintained a strong spiritual life—particularly individuals with high familial genetic risk for depression—were up to 75 percent protected against recurrent major depressive disorder over the subsequent 10 years. While this research is correlative and cannot prove causation, it offers compelling evidence that spirituality plays a significant role in mental health resilience. Reviewing this data, Miller infers that while faith doesn’t necessarily prevent suffering, suffering often activates spiritual awareness, which in turn strengthens psychological resilience. In other words, adversity may deepen spirituality—and spirituality may protect against future despair. Is Spirituality Enough? While Miller’s research explores the connection between depression and vaguely generalized spirituality rather than a particular faith or religion, her findings closely align with what Scripture has long held to be true. Romans 5:3–5 and James 1:2–4 both affirm that trials produce perseverance, which leads to hope amid a broken world. Old Testament Scriptures also remind us again and again that God is close to the brokenhearted and depressed (Pss. 34:18; 147:3; Isa. 40:31). But Miller’s research seems to imply these blessings aren’t for Christian believers alone. Data shows the benefit in mental health resilience for anyone who practices even vague spirituality, not just Christianity. In God’s common grace, he created the human brain to seek something greater, something transcendent, amid suffering. Moreover, by his design, our brains are reshaped and protected when we begin to seek him—even if at first this is only in the form of vague spirituality. From a clinical and societal perspective, encouraging spiritual practices might indeed help reduce depression recurrence rates in teens. Yet as believers, we know that teens need more than just cortical thickening and momentary resilience. Spirituality alone—divorced from a saving faith in Christ—offers only temporary relief. As Matthew 16:26 reminds us, what would it profit us to regain a renewed joy in this world and yet forfeit our souls? Teens need more than relief from depression. They also need the joy, purpose, and healing that comes from nothing less than a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ and faith in the ultimate gift of grace we receive through his death and resurrection. Adolescents Need the Great Physician As a family physician, I can offer my patients evidence-based care through therapy referrals, medications, and hospital support. But I cannot prescribe what these adolescents and young adults ultimately need—vibrant spiritual life in Christ, nurtured through community, mentorship, Scripture, and the church. These adolescents and young adults ultimately need vibrant spiritual life in Christ. For teens seeking renewed hope amid suffering, spirituality may help them through this life. But only a relationship with Christ will sustain them into eternity. May we offer this generation more than antidepressants or a vague spirituality that will be a mere Band-Aid to their wounds. May we instead point them to the Great Physician who brings healing now—and forever.

We all own items previously owned by others, whether cars or coffee pots. While exercising recently, I realized that the weight bench I was sweating on—the tool I use to stay fit, healthy, and alive—was previously owned by a man who’s now dead. I know because I bought the bench from his widow. I’ve dedicated decades of my life to sports and training—as both a coach and someone who works out regularly. But while exercising that morning on the weight bench, I felt more strongly than ever the truth of Paul’s words to Timothy: “bodily training is of some value” (1 Tim. 4:8, emphasis added). Lifting weights can improve life in many ways, but it can’t bring eternal life. Bodily Training’s Benefits Bryan Johnson’s Project Blueprint helps customers pursue health and longevity through what the company describes as the “world’s best health protocol.” Johnson made his fortune in Silicon Valley, but he’s best known for “waging a war on death that he claims to be winning.” Johnson’s aim is to never die: “Every decision about his health is made by specialized software and a team of 30 medical specialists who monitor and analyze data about his organs.” He eats, sleeps, and breathes to keep eating, sleeping, and breathing. Johnson’s search for a fountain of youth is absurd, but we should recognize what he gets right. It’s a good impulse to care for our bodies through nutrition, exercise, medicine, supplements, therapy, and proper rhythms of rest and work. After all, life is valuable, and God made people—body and soul—in his image. Participating in team sports and working out with others can improve your health and develop discipline. It can also strengthen your character and reduce loneliness. This is part of what Paul means when he says bodily training has some value. Participating in team sports and working out with others can strengthen your character and reduce loneliness. This is part of what Paul means when he says bodily training has some value. Faithful Christians don’t need to look like supermodels or elite CrossFit athletes, but we should aim to bring God glory by caring for the bodies he’s given us. Just as we steward our finances, we should steward our bodies. Among younger generations today, a growing health consciousness and emphasis on Stoic discipline have many following the same “vibe” as Johnson. But others of us live sedentary lifestyles dominated by screens, and we’d benefit from a renewed commitment to regular exercise in the new year. We shouldn’t laugh at people who join a gym in January. We should consider imitating them. When my church staff makes goals for the new year, I always encourage the team to set a few “bonus goals”—objectives that have little to do with church life directly but promote personal development and physical training. Spiritual Training’s Lasting Benefits This is Paul’s broader point in the passage. False teachers had claimed that “mature” followers of Christ should avoid marriage and certain foods. Paul, by contrast, wanted Timothy to know that true maturity leads to giving God thanks for his created world. Food, marriage, and other earthly gifts like exercise are holy when received through prayer and in accordance with God’s Word (1 Tim. 4:1–5). But rightly appreciating God’s creation means not overvaluing what God has made. This is why Paul speaks of training as having “some value,” not “all value.” Spiritual training should matter to us more than physical training. Working out might improve your life and may even extend your life, but it won’t prolong your life indefinitely. Exercise can’t give us the eternal life that only comes from Christ. One day, all your exercise equipment will end up in a dumpster or be sold to someone else. This is why Paul writes, “For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (v. 8). Hope Set on the Living God For the past six years, I’ve served as a coach for cross country and track and field at a local Christian school. Recently, we chose 1 Timothy 4:8 as our theme verse. The verse helped us encourage young athletes to do hard things, pursue athletic excellence, and discipline their bodies. But it also reminded us that a Christian’s identity doesn’t come from how fast we run, how high we jump, or how far we throw. We “have our hope set on the living God” (v. 10). A Christian’s identity doesn’t come from how fast we run, how high we jump, or how far we throw. We ‘have our hope set on the living God.’ We need the Word more than we need weights. The gains made in conforming our character to Christ have both present value and lasting value. Joining and committing to a healthy local church will matter far more than joining a gym. It’s with God’s people that we’re being trained “in the words of faith” and “for godliness” (vv. 6–7). The best “new you” in the new year is the new creation in you: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). Beauty is fleeting (Prov. 31:30). All flesh is like grass (Isa. 40:6). Releasing endorphins and reducing stress can’t compete with the fear of the Lord. To paraphrase C. S. Lewis, both the benefits and limits of exercise remind us that we’re made for another world. The everlasting life we long for is available, but it’s not found by rising to grind each day on cardio equipment. It’s only found through the discipline of faith.