01/03/2025
Happy New Year everyone!! 🧧🎊🎍
We hope you and your loved ones had a restful break, but if you haven’t, you are not alone. We love you, care for you, and want to make sure you are blessed by The Truth today.
(John 14:6)
I enjoy the underlying attitude-shift from complacency and griping, to contentment in this post. Even the Bible teaches this, but with an added caveat;
“But godliness with contentment is great gain,”
1 Timothy 6:6 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/1ti.6.6.ESV
Though the Dr. has good intentions, without “godliness”these methods are ultimately meaningless… because being happy is not a virtue. Neither is being depressed or anxious, but you get the point. Our emotions must submit to the supremacy of Christ in God… the true purpose of life is to obey His commands and Do His good works prepared for us in advance.
A life of service to others, not ourselves, regardless of how we feel. Because feelings are transient and not enough to propel us to do anything of eternal value. For that we need the eternal power of God. Every breath, is a gift.
So being grateful… thankful… an attitude of gratitude and the sacrifice of praise is the only offering worthy that God wants. A contrite heart, a broken spirit… He can use that to put us on the right path. He can grow us when we are weak, & humble enough to admit it & when we ask for His forgiveness, strength, renewal, He will gladly give it.
Happiness is a fake, New Age or Buddhist cop-out to dealing with the terrible situations we are in as humanity. Our problems don’t just go away from thinking they’ll go away by replacing negative emotions with positive emotions. It’s not that simple, just ask those who are in the weeds of depression, suicidal contemplation. Japan still being one of the highest su***de rates in the world… it’s just not enough to strive for “ignorance is bliss” or “just be happy instead of complacent”. Our negative thoughts are not to be ignored or simply observed like a cloud passing by in our minds and certainly not to be focused on either, but rather, dealt with, head on face them, and ask real hard questions like, what can we do about them besides “fake it til we make it”? Sometimes there is nothing we can do about our circumstances, but we can always ALL ways invite YHWH into our lives and mess in order to help us overcome.
It’s not wise to ignore or brush issues aside for the sake of happiness.
Now, if we replace the word “happiness” with Jesus Christ, now we’re talking!
Talking of an eternal solution to the brokenness of our insufficient and incomplete humanity. We need the power of a Love so great, so huge, Love that Has gone through Hell and High-water to save us from ourselves. God is Love. (1 John 4:8)
It all makes more sense, when we devote ourselves worshipfully to the only Being (Fully God & fully human) who fully sees us and fully knows us, even in-spite of us, regardless of our circumstances.
For, “…God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.5.8.ESV
Devote yourself to the One True God, and to your neighbor (the biblical definition from Christ Himself is everyone who isn’t you, is your neighbor) and then you will achieve a life worth living.
Not based on fleeting passions, feelings, or positive cognitions.
When your identity is not wrapped up in the extraneous temporal things in this world, of the flesh, but rather hidden in Christ The Savior of the World… then you are complete. And then will you produce the fruit of a life worth living.
(John 15)
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough, and we'll be more content when they are.
After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our partner gets his or her act together when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice holiday, when we retire.
The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?
Your life will always be filled with challenges.
It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.
A quote comes from Alfred D. Souza. He said,
"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.
So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time...and remember that time waits for no one.
So, stop waiting until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until winter, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink.... there is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
Work like you don't need money,
Love like you've never been hurt,
And dance like no one's watching
