“[the Lord] who satisfies your desires with good things so your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:5)
I recently heard about a study that followed hundreds of people over their lifetimes to understand better what makes people live happy, healthy, long lives. It’s called the “Harvard Study of Adult Development,” and it’s one of the longest-running studies ever conducted. It started in 1938 and is still ongoing today! Most of the original participants have passed away, and the study now follows their children and grandchildren. It’s a fascinating study, and their findings are worth exploring.
One of the surprising things they found was that people were not very good at guessing or anticipating what would bring them happiness and satisfaction. People overestimated the happiness they would get from big things such as fame, wealth, or major achievements, and underestimated the value of everyday social bonds. Fame, wealth, and success seemed to promise a lot of happiness and fulfillment, but in the end, did not satisfy.
They also found that money was best at removing misery but not at creating joy. In other words, money did make a difference in people’s level of happiness and well-being, but only when it addressed their needs and basic comforts. But once people’s needs and basic comforts were met, money no longer made a difference in people’s lives. Whether a person had a small or a big bank account, it didn’t affect their happiness and well-being.
And finally, the most consistent and powerful predictor of well-being, happiness, health, and even longevity wasn’t wealth, intelligence, success, IQ, or fame — it was the quality of close relationships. People with warm, supportive, and trustworthy connections tended to be happier and healthier, and to live longer than those who were socially isolated. Quality relationships made the biggest difference.
Now this was not a Christian study, per se. It was simply a collection of observations from following these people over their lifetimes. And yet, their findings echo and support so many biblical claims.
For example, in the book of Ecclesiastes, the narrator tells us he tried to find meaning in many different ways. He tried to find meaning in wealth; but found that “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.’” (Eccles. 5:10). He also tried with work and accomplishments, but it didn’t amount to much in the end (Eccles. 2:11). He tried with pleasure (Eccles. 2:1-2) and with wisdom just for the sake of wisdom (Eccles. 1:17) but all of it was meaningless in the end.
And of course, ultimately, the study’s main conclusion that the quality of our relationships has the greatest positive impact echoes Jesus’ claim. Jesus summarized the entire Old Testament with two commandments about relationships: Love God and love your neighbour (Matt 22:37-40). If we do these two things well, we find true meaning, and we find ourselves right where God wants us.
