ODJ: what makes you happy?
October 3, 2010
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” And, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (v.27).
READ: Luke 10:25-28
In 1937, researchers began studying the health and happiness of 268 Harvard University students. For many decades, the condition of these men was tracked. Featuring many years of data, the research was a serious attempt to answer a simple question: “What makes us happy?” In 2008, Dr. Vaillant, the director of the study, was asked what he had learned about human happiness from his 42 years of poring over the information gleaned. Vaillant’s overall conclusion was simple and profound: “The only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people.” Relationships are the key to happiness. “Happiness is love—full stop,” he says in a video.
Two thousand years earlier, when asked what makes for a meaningful life (Luke 10:25), Jesus said, ‘‘ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (v.27; Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 12:28-31,33). For believers in Jesus, happiness is loving God and loving other people.
How can you be happy? Love God. Fear the Lord your God, live in a way that pleases Him, and serve Him (Deuteronomy 6:1-5; 10:12). Yes, “happy are the people whose God is the Lord!” (Psalm 144:15, NKJV).
How can you be happy? Love others. Love one another deeply with all your heart (John 13:34, 15:17; 1 Peter 1:22). Keep on loving (Hebrews 13:1), bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2). Respect, honor, and serve one another in love (1 Peter 2:17; Romans 12:10; Galatians 5:13). It’s true. The best way to be happy is to love God and love others. —K.T. Sim
Honestly answer this simple question: What makes you happy? How does God view happiness?
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