What is happiness?

Jan 6, 2012
Today, I would like to speak to you about what happiness is.
We, now, live in times of hopelessness, depression, loneliness, and siucidal thoughts.
There were times that we were able to have a relationship making us feel comfort and warm understanding only by looking into each other's eyes. Now? We only understand waht was expressed to us in a obvious manner, for instance, I do not know I am loved unless someone tells me he(she) loves me.
Then, what brings happiness to us, what is the definition of happiness?
What is the criteria of happiness? Is there a common criteria of happiness for eveyone or is it all different for everyone? Is my criteria or the other's in relationship relevant? What is yours when you say you are happy or unhappy?
In general, one say that he(she) is happy when his(her) desire is satisfied. One expresses happiness when he(she) accomplishes high achievement in marriage, work, relationship, or school. Does this apply to everyone in the same way? Someone may get depressed about pregnancy, someone may get hurt in love-relationship, someone may be joyful facing marriage, or someone may feel despair about marriage.....
Why is it that same situation could cause so much difference to different people?
This is all because people use their emotion to be their criteria.
If I am emotionally sad today, I am sad no matter what happens to me. If I am happy today, I can handle any situation.
For those who live in faith, what is the criteria of happiness for us?
Unless we are in Christ, we do not have the right criteria of happiness. Only when I live in Christ, I can be truly happy in any circumstances or in any emotional state.
Through my life of sixty-some years, there were many moments of agony and hardship. I was able to overcome those hard times only because of Jesus Christ. And nothing could take away the joy I have in my personal relationship with Christ.
It is known that among people with physical disabilities, those who have faith have much higher chance of improvement. One research reported that people with high blood pressure showed decrease in blood pressure after attending church. We all know patients with faith overcome their health condition much better than those who don't have faith. This is because they have peace coming from the Lord in their heart.
Most people misunderstand thinking Christians do not have hardship. However, the deeper we go into the relationship with Jesus, the more we need to be clean, and right in God's eye, the more trials we have to face that we have to endure according to God's will. Despite all the hardship, We will learn the true meaning of happiness coming from God's plan to be glorified through us.
People wonder about the reason for hardships for man of faith. God's will is that His people live in Him, trust Him, depend on Him, desire Heaven. When we know this will of God, abide in it, and live being happy and thankful, we will be in peace that lead to the true happiness.
Ironically, hardship passes by much easier if we would embrace rather than resist with accepting attitude. The magnitude of hardship rely on one's heart, thoughts, and attitude.
As for me, when I am in deep relationship with the Lord, I can handle my pain better. On the other hand, When my heart is not strong enough, the pain overtakes me. Apart from God, we tend to be stubborn and self-centered with whom people do not like to associate. And we feel lonely and unhappy and yet do not want to look into self. People are more acceptable for those who examine themselves and try to make changes for the better, but don't want to do that myself. Just because I am willing to change myself, it doesn't mean people will like me. Everyone has his(her) own ideas. How absurd is that we want everyone to accept me for who I am, but I do not accept others?
It gives me comfort to bring myself to acknowledge that my behavior relies on my own emotion which changes moment by moment, and that others may dislike me because I do dislike someone; this acknowledgement can cause change in me.
Living focused on satifying my desires rather than focused on pleasing God is so wrong. Our lives have been designed to worship and glorify God. The mentality of satisfying my desire no matter what consequence it may bring is wrong. Giving God tithing with the money earned by cheating others will not please God. God does not tolerate injustice and does desire pure heart from us. We need to give God what plesases Him. What pleases Him is not the materials we might have but our broken hearts.
All things on earth and the universe belong to God. But, what do we do? We praise ourselves because we give offerings to God and do some services. The truth is that we do these thing for our own satisfaction. There is no broken heart here!
God wants us to be broken-hearted and seek only Him with repentence.
We should abandon the happiness coming from satisfying my own desires, and persue the true happiness coming from living before God building a God-pleasing family; establishing unity of family, oneness of man and wife, obedience of children, love for neighbors in the Lord.
What must precede this is seeking God. No one can realize the true happiness without the desire to please God, being broken-hearted which can be satisfied only by the Lord. We must glorify God, and to do so, we must repent everyday.
We must work out salvation by living daily life before God believing in the blood of Jesus Christ who came to die for our sins and resurrected and will come to judge, and wating for Him in hope. The true happiness is in this process.
Anyone who is in persuit of this true happiness will have the strength to overcome any hardship, depression, and discouragement that comes with life. Life focused on Jesus leads to the right purpose, right outcome and true happiness.
I deliver this message in hope that everyone can glorify God searching for and work out the true happiness in Christ.

[This is a summary of Pstr. Joy Yougsook Lee, Spirit Fruit Church in L.A.]
Original sermon in Korean: http://cafe.naver.com/spiritfruitchurch