If you’re familiar with the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong, you might recall his profound synopsis of human existence.

“There are two main ways of life—two basic principles—two fundamental philosophies,” explained Mr. Armstrong. “One is the way of giving; the other of getting. One is love; the other lust. One believes it is more blessed to give than to receive. The other insists that acquiring, taking, accumulating, in the way of competition, leads to progress and happiness” (Plain Truth, October 1973).

What are the consequences of living the “get” way of life?

Mr. Armstrong continued, “It has produced every wail of human woe. It is the way that now threatens the extinction of humanity” (emphasis mine throughout).

You need only contemplate the history of man or steal a reflective glance at modern society to recognize the truth in those statements.

For the more skeptical, however, one recent comprehensive scientific study confirms Mr. Armstrong’s insightful observation. Commissioned by The Children’s Society in Britain in 2007, the The Good Childhood Inquiry is Britain’s first independent national inquiry into the conditions that lead to a good childhood. This week, after two years of in-depth investigations in which 35,000 children, parents and professionals participated, The Children’s Society released its final report.

It’s a blockbuster. It’s a landmark. It’s a “wake-up call,” Children’s Society Chief Executive Bob Reitemeier said.

“It says that the aggressive pursuit of individual success by adults today is the greatest threat to our children.”

Don’t gloss over that statement. Stop for a moment, mull it over, digest it. The “greatest threat” to children today—despite what most authorities tell us—is not obesity, or gang violence, or online predators, or drug abuse, or alcohol, or suicide, or sexual abuse.

It’s selfish parents and adults!

The Telegraphdescribed the study’s findings thus:

The Good Childhood Inquiry claims that almost all of the problems now facing young people stem from the culture of “excessive individualism” that has developed in recent decades.[The report] says the “me first” attitude of adults is causing family breakdowns, competition in education, a growing gap between rich and poor, unkindness among teenagers and premature sexualization by advertisers.

Humbling stuff, particularly for parents. But it’s also refreshingly honest. Finally, a handful of experts have probed beneath the nasty, outward sores affecting Britain’s children and exposed the root cause of childhood woes!

You know the woes I’m talking about. British childhood, as the report showed, is marked by trial and tribulation: emotional and behavioral problems at home and at school; violence among children; anxiety, depression and mental ills; promiscuity and sexual perversion; teenage pregnancy—the worst in Western Europe; youth gangs; knifings; drug and alcohol abuse; suicide.

And let’s be honest. This is about more than Britain. Across the planet, more children than not are, to varying degrees, infected by these same endemic woes.

It’s about time we began to recognize that parents and adults preoccupied with satisfying their own lusts, forging their own personal success, and basically living the “get” way are the root cause of most childhood woes!

Our selfishness is hurting our children.

“There is unease about the unprecedented speed with which children’s lives are changing,” Mr. Reitemeier stated.

[T]he commercial pressures they face; the violence they are exposed to; the rising stresses of school; the increased emotional distress they feel. There is one common theme that links all these problems:excessive individualism. This is the widespread belief among adults that the prime duty of the individual is to make the most of their own life, rather than to contribute to the lives of others.

That statement, and the entire Good Childhood Inquiry, is up-to-date, scientifically proven, heartbreakingly accurate, hard evidence of the reality Mr. Armstrong explained for years. It is scientific proof that the get way produces “every wail of human woe” and is the “way that now threatens the extinction of humanity.”

The truth hurts. Hopefully it resonates.

For many, The Good Childhood Inquiry is dismaying. If selfishness is the root cause of childhood woes, what hope is there for raising children in a world guzzling from a gutter of selfishness and vanity? Worthwhile question. As Mr. Armstrong diagnosed, the spirit of selfishness, the way of acquiring, taking, getting and greed, carpets this planet like a thick mold. It suffocates every culture, every society, every class, every occupation—every person. Is it even possible to cure ourselves from the get way, and restore healthful, exuberant happiness, uplifted joy and rock-solid stability to our children?

It is. The solution can be explained simply: Embrace the lifestyle opposite to the get way. Live the give way!

How do you do that? Is it even possible?

Here’s a practical suggestion. Cement the following principle into your heart and mind: I must consider the well-being of others before myself. Make it a goal to allow the give principle to permeate every nook and cranny of your life. Before you perform any action, conduct any conversation, make any decision, consider any thought, ask yourself: Does this decision, this action, this conversation, this thought serve me only, or does it serve others first? Analyze every motivation and impulse in this context.

The end result is guaranteed. Live by that principle. Choose to serve others, including God, before yourself, and your life will revolutionize for the better. More importantly, by embracing the give way of life, you can change the lives of those around you!

This is the solution to childhood woes!

Imagine a marriage in which both husband and wife put God’s law of give and the interests and well-being of the other person before him or herself. Adultery vanishes, divorce ends. Both husband and wife are mentally and emotionally fulfilled, happy and stable. These conditions produce safe, stable, happy children. Imagine a family where siblings are taught to value the well-being of others before their own. Fighting, bickering and division diminishes. Each child becomes happier, more successful, more fulfilled, more lovable, more loving, more loved. Imagine teens taught to obey God’s laws, teens putting the well-being of others before themselves. Tensions melt. Teen violence vanishes. Alcohol and drug abuse dissipates; teen pregnancy is impossible. High schools are a joy to visit.

If living the get way of life is the cause of Britain’s (and the world’s) childhood woes, then living the give way of life is the solution!

If you know the life and teachings of Herbert Armstrong, it is exciting to see one of the themes of his ministry proved and substantiated by this up-to-date, comprehensive, exhaustive, two-year investigation. For decades, Mr. Armstrong taught that human nature, which walks the get path, is inherently selfish and vain and is the root cause of all of mankind’s infectious pandemic problems. This survey proves him right.

But Mr. Armstrong didn’t merely shed light on the causes of world problems. He was a man filled with godly solutions—wonderful, practical hope-filled solutions. While living the give way is indeed the solution to this epidemic of childhood woes, and a solution advocated by Mr. Armstrong, changing our very character and nature from get to give is more impossible than it sounds. To successfully and entirely transform our human hearts, which the Prophet Jeremiah warned are selfish and vain and evil, requires power and discipline beyond what the human mind and body is capable of producing.

Transforming human nature requires nothing less than the mind and power of God!

God wants to give you access to His power! To learn what you must do to draw on this power, read Repentance Toward God, and request and then study Mystery of the Ages. Also, for a picture of what this planet would be like if every human, using God’s power, lived the way of “give,” read Mr. Armstrong’s wonderfully descriptive, hope-filled booklet The Wonderful World Tomorrow—What It Will Be Like.