The Pursuit of Happiness<\/a>.” Oscar Miles is addressing the very issues you are raising and I would like you to listen to the lessons.<\/p>\nHappy people and unhappy people experience the same things in life. Studies have shown that experience or circumstances in life do not determine whether a person is happy or not. As simplistic as it might seem, it boils down to the attitude a person chooses to take toward life. Happiness isn’t a feeling, it is a choice regarding how a person faces life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I am a Christian and have been for some time now. My problem is I have trouble letting go of my guilt because of past sins. I feel extremely depressed and in deep remorse for past sins. I know that God forgives me if I repent, confess, and ask for forgiveness, but I still…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[397,374],"class_list":["post-20643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-depression","tag-happiness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-feel-i-dont-deserve-anything-should-i-give-up-on-getting-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":20643,"position":0},"title":"I feel I don’t deserve anything. Should I give up on getting married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am in my early twenties and had a godly life since childhood. I had sworn to remain a virgin until marriage, but last year I had this boyfriend who promised we would get married. We had sex. Later he broke up with me claiming I was unfaithful since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34506,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-fiancee-is-having-trouble-forgiving-me-for-my-past-sexual-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":20643,"position":1},"title":"My fiancee is having trouble forgiving me for my past sexual sins","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am having an issue with my engagement. Before I met my fiancee I was not a Christian. I had had sex with multiple partners. My fiancee, at times, has trouble forgiving me for these past sins. What can I do to help her? I know I've hurt her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90727,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/forgiveness-of-debts-owed\/","url_meta":{"origin":20643,"position":2},"title":"Forgiveness of Debts Owed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer It seems that in the \"forgiveness debate\" (that sounds odd), people can easily talk past each other. The discussion really hinges on what is meant by \"forgiveness.\" To further clarify the nature and nuances of forgiveness, please note the phrase used by Jesus in His model prayer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53354,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-bad-past-is-affecting-my-current-relationship\/","url_meta":{"origin":20643,"position":3},"title":"My bad past is affecting my current relationship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello there, I have something on my heart and I saw your site and decided to reach out. I was raised Catholic and in high school was allowed to choose what religion I would be and went from Catholicism to non-denominational Christian. My reasons were that I believe God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64802,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-stuck-in-a-cycle-of-shame-and-guilt\/","url_meta":{"origin":20643,"position":4},"title":"I’m stuck in a cycle of shame and guilt","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear sir, I have visited prostitutes in the past. I repent each day to our Lord for my fallacies. I never plan or think about paying for sex again in my life nor of falling back into the pornography trap. I seem to be stuck in a cycle of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31500,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-suffering-from-depression-and-feel-that-god-isnt-in-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":20643,"position":5},"title":"I’m suffering from depression and feel that God isn’t in my life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please help! I have a very difficult time believing that God loves me and that He's not distant and wanting to punish me.\u00a0 I'm desperate for Him to change me into someone who truly lives as His child.\u00a0 I can't do it on my own and I need Him,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}