06/04/2026
A MUST- READ for EVERYONE
Antidote of faith”
by Dr. Walt Larimore
Children who have a healthy spiritual foundation grow up knowing they are loved by their Creator who has endowed them with unique gifts, talents, and abilities.
A child who hasn’t been shown how to have a personal relationship with God is at a huge disadvantage. He will struggle to figure out life and his place in it. Such a child may not realize how special each person is to the Creator and may fail to develop a healthy respect for all human life.
Many people have asked why some kids commit senseless and violent acts. Explanations range from access to guns to mental disorders. Many variables contribute to children being highly unhealthy. But three characteristics repeatedly emerge in the research: spiritual emptiness, a toxic social environment, and family instability. Dr. James Garbarino who has conducted many interviews with juvenile murderers, claims that when these three characteristics come together, they form a lethal mixture. He calls this spiritual emptiness in children a “crisis of meaninglessness”.
Garbarino’s research concludes that a lack of meaning in a child’s life leads to despair and plays an important role in the lives of violent juveniles. He writes, “With neither hope nor a sense of purpose, troubled [children] are psychologically adrift and are... drawn to nihilism, satanism, and all the other “isms” of the dark side.” Without a sense of higher purpose based on true spirituality, some of these children see no point in restraining offensive or violent behavior.
Garbarino’s findings affirm what I saw during my two decades of medical practice. Children who lacked a spiritual foundation often lived by the simple creed, “I am born; I live; I die.” At best the only values they receive from our culture are materialism and the pursuit of physical pleasure. Thus the best understood purpose for existence is to accumulate “things” (such as power, possessions, and position). When this desire for things is not fulfilled (and when it’s fulfilled and doesn’t bring satisfaction) and there is no spiritual foundation to mitigate the resulting confusion or frustration, the outcome can be worse than unhealthy; it can be deadly.
According to psychologist Andrew Weaver, spiritual and cultural experience is linked to children’s behavior and development. He concludes that a spiritual foundation helps to buffer children from the poisons of culture. Religious belief has many healthy outcomes, including reduced su***de attempts, less depression, better response to trauma, and less substance abuse.
Other research shows that religious faith can give children a higher purpose in life. There simply is no substitute for a healthy spiritual foundation in the life of a child.
taken from “The Highly Healthy Child” by Dr. Walt Larimore
