Introduction
In this article, I would like to present to you the topic of living a good life and therefore enjoying your life. The bible specifically tells us how to love our life and to see good days.? We often pursue happiness in many ways.? However, sometimes the pursuit of happiness takes us places that we don?t want to be in.? Sometimes people end up with drug addictions, sex addictions, gambling addictions, and much more.? Even if a person would hit the lottery doesn?t guarantee they will be happy or enjoy their life.? This is why we need to seek the Kingdom of God first and all these other things will be given to us (Matthew 6:33).
What is the secret, if you will, of having a good life and enjoying it.? Continue reading to see what God reveals to us about this topic.
Scripture Text
1 Peter 3:10?12 (ESV) ? 10 For ?Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.?
Psalm 34:11?18 (ESV) ? 11 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
See also the following passages.
- Psalm 32:8?9 (ESV) ? 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.
- Psalm 33:18?19 (ESV) ? 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, 19 that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.
- Psalm 34:19?22 (ESV) ? 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. 20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. 21 Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. 22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Lessons Learned
What can we learn from these passages of scripture for living a happy life?? According to the above scripture passages, living a happy life requires that we do the following.
- Don?t speak evil
- Do not tell lies
- Allow God to teach you and guide you
- Hope in the love of God.? Remember that God loves you.
- Turn away from evil and instead turn towards (do) good
- Pursue peace and once obtained work to maintain it
- Realize that the happiness we have is a gift from God
- God watches over those who fear him (reverent awe and respect)
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The Lord watches over the righteous and He hears their requests (1 John 5:14-15) ? or cry for help as in Psalm 34:15.
The Lord turns away from those who do evil.
This is important because it provides us a way to be certain of God?s provision and help.? Our righteousness is in Jesus Christ not in the works that we do.? This is a critical point because unless we realize this, we will try to earn God?s provision and help.? Once we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we put on the righteousness of God (Romans 3:22).
We also see in Ps 34:19-22 that there are many adversities that come to the righteous, but God delivers the righteous from all of those adversities.? God protects them.? The sinner and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
The secret to a happy life is simply to stay on God?s side so to speak.? Be holy as he is holy.? Be the righteousness of Christ that you are and love.? The greatest commandment according to Jesus Christ is to love God with everything in us and to love others as ourselves.? If we do this then we can live a happy life.
Living a happy life doesn?t mean that we will not have problems or things to be unhappy about.? However, being happy is more of a choice than a state.? Sure, there are things that make us happy emotionally such as getting a lot of money, being recognized in front of others, or performing a musical piece perfectly.? However, true happiness comes from our relationship with God and the things pertaining to it.
Consider this.
Ecclesiastes 8:15 (ESV) ? 15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
This doesn?t mean that we can live any way we want to obtain happiness.? Read Ecclesiastes chapter 8 for the full context, which includes righteousness and hard work.? However, we should enjoy the results of what we?ve worked for.? We should harvest what we have sown.? Sometimes we go through life day after day just working and never stopping to smell the roses so to speak.? This also suggests that enjoying our life is a choice.
Conclusion
Living a truly happy life according to scripture means that we pursue righteousness and justice and that we live according to God?s way.? When we put our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, we take care of the righteousness part because we have the righteousness of God at that point.? It is only a matter of living it.
If we submit to God and allow Jesus to truly be Lord of our life then we can have a happy life.? Happiness, in this case, requires the presence of God working through our day to day activities and that we have a personal relationship with him.? Also, living a happy life is a choice that we must make because sometimes we may face situations that don?t make us feel happy.? Happiness then is more than a feeling, but a state of being.
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