Unhappy or Happy?

by Terry Wane Benton

The measure of a good life is not that you are happy or not. You can sear the conscience so that it does not bother you to do wrong or to use people for selfish purposes. With a seared conscience, you could possibly enjoy the "pleasures of sin." Therefore, the question is not what makes you happy; you could temporarily find pleasure in what might use and damage others. So, what I want us to think about is not whether the end results of what you choose to do make you feel pleasurable or happy, but whether the things you do are actually good so that they bring satisfaction that good is being done.

Take the issue of thankfulness as an example. Is it good to be thankful for what you have? On the surface, it seems like it might bring a satisfying perspective, and it would not hurt anyone around you or use anyone for selfish objectives. So, the Lord wants us to master our hearts so that we are thankful, and the more we feed that outlook, the more contented and satisfied we become.

The cure for much unhappiness is to be thankful and develop a thankful outlook. Depression is often caused by ingratitude about:

• Who you are or are not,
• What you have or do not have, and
• What you do or do not get to do.

But thanksgiving comes to terms with each of these. It refuses to be unhappy because we are not someone else, refuses to chain happiness to things or lack of things, and refuses to tie happiness to what we might be missing because of where we are. It chooses to master emotional feelings instead of being mastered by certain negative interpretations of your surroundings.

For example, you can look at a child as a burdensome inconvenience to you, or you can look at that child as an opportunity for love. The bottom line is that you can fail to be happy anywhere under any circumstances if you fail to be thankful for who you are, what you have, and what you get to do. Furthermore, you cannot be thankful without being happy. Let that sink in! You cannot be thankful without being happy.

In everything, give thanks! (I Thessalonians 5:17-21). I can't name an epistle of Paul that does not emphasize thanksgiving. Happiness was not because Paul had all the right circumstances and conditions for it but because of what he chose to be thankful for. Happiness will come when we practice being thankful. He “learned” to be content in all circumstances because he practiced and perfected the habit of viewing his opportunities to be thankful, which determined his joy and happiness!

We can learn what Paul learned!