Do more of what makes you happy holy. Unknown
The world in which we live in sends the message that happiness is the chief goal for life. Find the job, spouse, home, toys, etc that make you happy. You deserve to be happy. It's your right to be happy. Dear Lord. (No really I'm praying...) Newsflash: We aren't entitled. Seriously. And I've touched on that topic already (click here) so I won't spend a lot of time on that.
What's one thing that makes you happy? Once you've been a glutton with it are you happy? Or does that feeling flit away with the drops of something that you don't like? See, happiness is fleeting and the reason people keep buying new toys, trading in for new spouses, flitting from job to job, etc is because the happiness fades and they've got to fill it back up. C'mon. You know I'm right. You've seen it in your own life haven't you? I know I have in mine.
But holiness. A sacred. mysterious characteristic that actually can become a way of life. We've got a good example. Just sayin'. Holiness is not fleeting. It doesn't shift and sway with the winds of life. It is part of the foundation so that we are satisfied and fulfilled. (Oh did I forget to mention that all those things to make you happy still leave you feeling empty and unfulfilled?) Oh doing more of what creates holiness in us isn't always "fun" in the short term. It requires self-sacrifice, it requires putting aside our wants and picking up what God wants, it requires swimming upstream (even in the Church! Maybe most especially in the Church but that's a different topic for a whole different blog.). See? No "fun". But take your eyes off the short term and look for the long term and there's where the fun lies. Holiness leads to satisfaction, fulfillment, adventure, risk, reward. All the things that we might be looking for in happiness but haven't been able to find.
Want a happy life? Then do more of what makes for a holy life.
Suggested reading/studying: Holy Habits by Mimi Wilson and Shelly Cook Volkhardt
The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
Holiness Day by Day by Jerry Bridges
The world in which we live in sends the message that happiness is the chief goal for life. Find the job, spouse, home, toys, etc that make you happy. You deserve to be happy. It's your right to be happy. Dear Lord. (No really I'm praying...) Newsflash: We aren't entitled. Seriously. And I've touched on that topic already (click here) so I won't spend a lot of time on that.
What's one thing that makes you happy? Once you've been a glutton with it are you happy? Or does that feeling flit away with the drops of something that you don't like? See, happiness is fleeting and the reason people keep buying new toys, trading in for new spouses, flitting from job to job, etc is because the happiness fades and they've got to fill it back up. C'mon. You know I'm right. You've seen it in your own life haven't you? I know I have in mine.
But holiness. A sacred. mysterious characteristic that actually can become a way of life. We've got a good example. Just sayin'. Holiness is not fleeting. It doesn't shift and sway with the winds of life. It is part of the foundation so that we are satisfied and fulfilled. (Oh did I forget to mention that all those things to make you happy still leave you feeling empty and unfulfilled?) Oh doing more of what creates holiness in us isn't always "fun" in the short term. It requires self-sacrifice, it requires putting aside our wants and picking up what God wants, it requires swimming upstream (even in the Church! Maybe most especially in the Church but that's a different topic for a whole different blog.). See? No "fun". But take your eyes off the short term and look for the long term and there's where the fun lies. Holiness leads to satisfaction, fulfillment, adventure, risk, reward. All the things that we might be looking for in happiness but haven't been able to find.
Want a happy life? Then do more of what makes for a holy life.
Suggested reading/studying: Holy Habits by Mimi Wilson and Shelly Cook Volkhardt
The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
Holiness Day by Day by Jerry Bridges
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