happiness
I don't think that it's hard for me to be nice to people. I don't think it's hard for me to be honest with people either. I think I have a pretty good handle on not coveting and honoring my father and my mother. I work really hard to praise God. It's funny that whenever I'm singing a song, it's usually a worship song - not a song that one would hear on the radio. I do believe that God exists - that is not up for discussion (unless I start thinking really hard, but I usually end up choosing to believe anyway). My sin is that I think I know what will make me happy...and sometimes I don't think God wants me to be happy. I have asked people if they think God wants us to be happy, and some have answered "not necessarily." That makes me sad...and angry. So, what do y'all think. Does God want us happy? I go to church, live a pretty good life (however, very far from perfect), try to serve others with my life, ask myself if I'm doing God's will, etc. Should I be happy...because I'm not...and when I'm not I do stupid things.
Thanks for reading.
3 Comments:
Happiness is a hard term to kind of pin down. I believe that God wants us happy. At the heart of our faith is the belief that God loves us, and if he loves us, then he must want us to be happy. The problem occurs when we fail to see the difference between happiness and getting every thing we want. A parent/child metaphor is appropriate. If I had a kid, I would want he or she to be happy, but I would also slap the child's hand if they reached for a hot stove, even if the child thought that touching the hot stove would make them happy. What makes matters worse is that everyone else's parent (their chosen god-money, sex, etc.), allows them to touch the stove, and we don't get to see them pulling back their hands in pain. We are therefore the spiritual equivalent of petulant teenagers crying, "But everyone else is doing it!"
That all sounds very pat, like the textbook answer that you learn in Sunday School. It also does nothing to answer the heart of your question as to why we all feel "not happy" sometimes, even when we are living the good Christian life. All I can say is that we were made as communal people, and I usually find myself discouraged when I have built up walls between myself and those who love me. When I am hurting and unhappy, knocking down those walls is usually the best first thing to do.
You are loved and treasured, Mario.
You sound like a man who is wise beyond his years. When you discover the answer please let me in on the secret.
Forrest Gump said," I am not a smart man, but I know what love is." I sure wish he had said he knew what happiness is.
Bob
I believe wants us his children happy. He says in his word he gave to save so that all may come to repentance not just one, he doesn't like to see when we suffer. We are the one's that cause our lives to be unhappy when we are not walking in God's will. It's not about us it's about him! Once we fully accept that then and only then can we be fully at peace=happiness. Even though we go through testings and trials which may make us be unhappy don't let it get the best of you because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world! Those testings and trials only come to make you stronger! God bless
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