Happiness
By
Lexi Ellis
But may the
righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.
Psalm
68:3 (NIV)
It’s the subject of a
popular song and the constant topic in articles and sermons that distinguish it
from joy. Joy, mentioned a lot in the Bible, is about “true contentment that
comes from the internal factors like our faith in the Lord.”(1) Happiness, mentioned
much less in Scripture, is described as things like “fleeting” and dependent
upon “temporal factors like circumstances.”(1)
Happiness seems to get
a bad rap because there’s so much focus on its difference from joy. Google finishes
for you when you start to type “the biblical difference between,” with 680,000
results.(2) This difference, though important, can result in exclusively
elevating joy. The message seems to be: Ignore
happiness..it’s just a byproduct of circumstances.
Recently, though,
happiness grabbed my attention. It started with watching his TED
talk and then listening to Shawn Achor speak at my husband’s work event.
Achor researches Positive Psychology, a subset that studies proactive, healthy
mind habits versus negative mental health. Incredibly fascinating. The brain
scans…the studies…everything validated what Scriptures implies: Happiness is a
choice.
Yet many of us ignore
that choice by ignoring the actions, though simple, that are necessary to be
happy. Based on studies and research, Achor listed five habits that led to
higher levels of optimism…none of which are revolutionary nor complicated, all
of which have clear biblical connections. There were two I wanted to look at
particularly.
The first habit was to
write down three specific things we’re grateful for.(3) Finding those three for that day (beyond the “thank you for my
house, my food, my family”) is something we all do at Thanksgiving, but it’s an
action that’s required daily to develop a heart of hospitability and
thankfulness. Scripture says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and
thankful.”
The second habit was to write a positive message
(note, email or text) to someone who is in your support network.(3) Its importance
is not new information, but in moving our focus off ourselves. Scripture says,
“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the
interests of others.” Despite the craziness that goes on, how easy it is to
forget to intentionally schedule time to encourage others.
Gratitude and
encouragement...it sounds so simple. May we be people who choose intentional
lives of happiness through investing in habits of being grateful and
encouraging others.
Going Deeper:
1. What choices and
adjustments do you need to make to choose happiness?
2. Which is easier - -
gratitude or encouragement? Which is instinctively harder for you?
Further Reading:
Psalm 16:9 & 37:4; Philippians 2:4 & 4:4; Colossians
4:2
(2) Google
search
(3) Anchor, Shawn. “The
Happiness Advantage.” Thrivent
Peak Performers’
Conference. Chicago,
May 13, 2014.
Lexi
is married to Andrew and has an adorable puppy named Calvin. She serves with
Oakwood’s Children’s Ministries, teaches at Lake Country
Christian Academy
and is the Fresh Start Coordinator.
