Real Happiness (Part Two)

So now we know that a people pleasing attitude is how not to be happy. But a popular thing today is still how to be happy.

Happiness is not something that is “achieved”. Really, how could one “achieve” happiness? Is there one moment where you have happiness for the rest of your life? To “achieve” happiness is a vague idea. Happiness isn’t something that can be bought, or practiced, or learned; even from this article, I can’t magically make you “achieve” happiness for the rest of your life. Rather, happiness is a way of living.

Happiness is finding joy in the small things. God gives us so many things that we take for granted. The lust of the eyes is never satisfied, and we’re always searching for the next best thing, or the one thing that will make us “happy” forever—all futile and meaningless things that trap us in a snare of unhappiness—that we don’t pay attention to the beautiful moon or stars outside, or the way our garden grows, or the complexity of the way people, even in our own family, act. Those things are free; we don’t need money to buy them. They can be appreciated by all people.

Thankfulness is happiness. Gratitude, contentment, and thankfulness are all keys to happiness. A life lived in constant pursuit of something better, of more money or pleasure or fulfillment, is not a happy life. We need to learn to appreciate what we have, and find happiness in it, for it is what God saw fit to give us. He knows why we have what we have and don’t have what we want. Not everything we want is good for us.

Real joy only comes from God. The happiest people are the ones who follow God’s commands. All good comes from God, not materials. Joy is a result of the Spirit, which is a result of God in us and of loving God. Sometimes, God gives us gifts of special moments of joy. One for me was just this Sunday, seeing a little baby shouting and dancing around and full of joy in worship.

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