I believe religion is a good thing and can help us live a better life right now, but I don't believe in life after death. In my view, once you're dead that's the end, and this life is the only thing we ought to worry about. — Z.K.

Yes, faith in God can help us live a better life right now, because a person who seeks to follow His rules for living is going to have a better life than someone who ignores Him. The psalmist wrote, "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless" (Psalm 18:30).

But one of the reasons faith in God helps us live a better life right now is because it also gives us hope for the future. After all, if this life is all there is, what is to keep us from living any way we want to? What is to keep us from living selfishly—exploiting others and ruining the environment? For that matter, what is the purpose of life if death ends it all? We will end up saying with the writer of Ecclesiastes, "Everything is meaningless" (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

But this life is not all there is—and the proof is that Jesus Christ came back from the grave. Death was not part of God's original plan; death came into the world because of our rebellion against God. But God refused to let death have the final word! He sent His Son into the world to conquer death, and now by faith in Him we can have the hope of eternal life.

The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). This can be your hope, as you turn to Christ and ask Him to come into your life today.