Being happy as a Christian

Whether online or in the store, you can find shelves of literature on happiness. These books are filled with tips and instructions on how to become a happy person. Especially in the Western world, where we enjoy such wealth, many people are deeply unhappy. But do those books really help? 

A while ago, I hold a book in my hands that could be called a happiness manual. It was about promoting positive emotions in everyday life and avoiding, if possible, anything that triggers negative emotions. 

I’m all for trying to see the glass half full. Practicing a grateful attitude and cultivating contentment is definitely biblical. However, I’m a firm believer that you won’t be ‘happy’ in the long run if you constantly focus on yourself and avoid everything that triggers so-called ‘negative’ emotions. 

One time, I even heard that you should help other people and donate money to good causes because that makes you happy. I thought that was so weird. Doing something good for other people is often rewarding for both sides, as studies show. But if you help others for the sole purpose of becoming happy, you’ll end up feeling completely empty on the inside in the long run.

What then is the meaning of life? To be happy? To me, that seems to be a shallow goal. It’s something I don’t consider worth striving for. 

If a neutral observer would accompany me for a day, I think he would call me a content person. And I agree with that. I am content. But not every day.

It’s not even possible to always feel good, to always be ‘happy’. In life, are confronted with difficulties, challenging times, death, grief, physical and mental illnesses, financial burdens, relationship problems, natural disasters, as well as people who hurt us and whatever else is part of the reality of the human condition.

It’s not realistic to always go through life being happy and cheerful. This is my invitation to you to stop putting pressure on yourself to be happy at all costs. There are times to cry and to wrestle with God in prayer. Those seasons are part of life. (In your Bible, read Ecclesiastes 3 or the book of Ecclesiastes in general.) 

And that is not all. The Bible repeatedly emphasizes that people who are afflicted and troubled are close to God (Matthew 5:3-4 / James 4:9). God dwells among people who are broken and humble (Proverbs 3:34 / Isaiah 57:15 / Isaiah 66:2). God is present when you are at the bottom. 

What else besides God’s presence carries us through the good times as well as the bad ones? 

A life that is sustained by meaningfulness and characterized by love. When one lives for God and for his mission, which reaches far beyond ourselves, one experiences the meaning of life.

Such a person, like everyone else, experiences difficulties. But he or she accepts the good and the bad days and submits them all to God. Carried by the knowledge that one’s life is significant for the kingdom of God and thus for other people is far more rewarding. True and lasting fulfillment, even when things are not going so well in life, can only be found in surrender, in a life outside oneself. 

Moreover, we are sustained by a hope that can revive joy even in difficult times. All who are in Christ will enjoy eternal life in the presence of God. Imagine that you will be filled with a perfect love and constantly experience deep joy. Not a single sorrow will exist because God will wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:4). 

Because we hope for the resurrection, we find comfort in difficult days. We are carried by love knowing that we are part of something greater, that we belong to our eternal God.

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