How To Become A Happier Christian
I know that this has been a hard year for many of us. Often when we hit a lot of bumps in the road of life it’s not hard to get down in a frump and loose our joy. I definitely am not immune to this, so I thought it would be good to remind you of some things we can do to increase our level of happiness as we live the life of a Christian. Now, you may have heard many of these things before, maybe even more than once, but as I said, I think we need to be reminded over and over because for some reason these things seem to slip our mind far too often. So let’s talk about how to be a happier Christian.
1st. First of all I believe we need to do our best to avoid the pitfalls and traps. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “to be alert and of a sober mind, because your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Colossians 2:8 also warns us not to let anyone take you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophies.” There are all kind of traps out there that we can fall into that will rob our joy or even hurt us.
We also have to be aware of other pitfalls like doing things that can make us miserable, and stressed out like: doing or saying things that will make us feel guilty, arguing all the time about every little thing, being knit picky and unforgiving about everything, starting fights, or purposely hurting others, or gossiping, and tearing others down. Even doing things like stealing or lying will in turn rob us. The guilt from such actions can be like cancer to your soul and will rob you of any happiness that you may have otherwise.
And #2, if you hope to be happy, you may need to change some attitudes you’ve been clinging on to, like:
– Always feeling sorry for yourself, like no one has it as bad as you,
– Or feeling like nobody cares what you are going thru.
– Or maybe you cling to a negative attitude and always looking at the cup half empty or in a negative light, always being pessimistic and suspicious about everything. Such attitudes can short circuits feeling happy.
– You simply may need to nip a selfish attitudes in the bud because that can also lead to all kinds of ill feelings, hurt and even other sin.
Now that we’ve talked about the need to avoid certain pitfalls I would now like to suggest a few positive things that we can do to help us be a happy Christian.
#1. Start finding ways to show love and serve others. One of greatest object lesson Jesus taught His disciples actually took place after the evening meal before He was arrested and went to the cross. He took up a basin of water and a towel in hand and began to wash the disciples dirty smelly feet. Let me read what Jesus tells them from the Common English Bible; “ After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do. 16 I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. 17 Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them.”
I believe that we fulfill God’s purpose for our life when we love, serve, and give to others like He Himself gives to us. Remember, we are told that we have been created in His own image and likeness, so if we live a selfish, stingy life where we don’t help or care about anyone but our self, we are not going to feel right because we are doing something contrary to what our true nature is meant to be doing.
But when you find a way to help someone else, when you lovingly seek another’s best or highest good, when you are generous and help another… what happens?? It makes you feel good… even if you didn’t feel like doing it in the first place, it usually make you feel better that you did.
Proverbs 14:21 says “Those who despise their neighbors are sinners, but happy are those who are kind to the needy.”
Proverbs 22:9 says “Happy are generous people, because they give some of their food to the poor.”
Over and over I heard and read that if you feel sad, or down, if you are feeling depressed, lonely, miserable, or unloved, the best medicine to get happy is to get out there and find someone to help, to serve to lend a helping hand to, or visit. And that will change attitude in a positive way. And it just may even change your life in a good way as well.
Do you want to be happier, or stay miserable? Silly question! But the choice is ours by choosing what we do with our time.
#2. Another thing that will help a Christian become happier is by worshipping and thanking God more. And you may be thinking, ‘Well Ben I’m here almost every Sunday.’
Well, let me tell you this, ‘Sunday is not enough!’ As a matter of fact, Sunday mornings, as we collectively worship together as a church can sometimes actually be a bit distracting for some. You may not even feel a deep sense of heartfelt worship. People come in late, cough, or whisper, or get up, kids play, babies cry and our attention is disrupted. It happens to the best of us.
Mind you, our times together on Sundays and even midweek is important as we gather together. But I personally believe that God wants us to gather together as a group so that we can mutually encourage one another as we do our best to worship Him, and sing, and pray, and fellowship with one another.
I am also convinced that we as Christians feel better if we learn to enjoy, and worship, and thank God everyday! Like when we sing songs of praise to Him throughout the day, or listening to edifying songs of praise that honors God and maybe humming or singing along. This can lift your spirit heavenward and make you feel good.
Or how about when you make time honor Him, by reading His word, or by talking to Him throughout the day. We can worship God throughout the day whether we are in the shower, or in our car on the way to or from work, when we go for a walk, or even while we lie in bed awake at night. Worshiping God isn’t limited to our public worship on Sunday mornings.
Romans 12 :1 tells us to offer our whole self, that is all our entire self with all our faculties to the Lord in holiness, and by doing so it is considered reasonable service and worship to God.
I believe that’s what gave David strength and joy. In Psalm 28 7 he wrote, “My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.”
Like the angels in heaven, I believe we are made to praise and worship our wonderful God, and feel happy when we do so.
But when we don’t, when we are so caught up with our self and our problems joy and happiness evades us.
#3. Fix your eyes on our future Glory. In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul wrote, “one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Maybe more of us need to forget some things in our past and start looking to the future if we hope to be happy. The past is past, but the future hold our greatest adventure of all.
Paul wrote those words from prison having been arrested for doing good, for teaching salvation thru Jesus. He wasn’t about to let life’s unfair circumstances get him down. He knew for sure that there is a great day coming when Christians will receive the prize of a lifetime; and that made him happy, and in verse 15 he goes on to say that should all have this same attitude.
#4. Something else that can lead to becoming happy is fellowshipping with our brethren. Having fun with our brothers and sisters in Christ can be a really pick us up. (Barry Erskin recently lost his wife Linda. Right away he decided to start hosting a game night on Friday evenings at his home. Why? Because I believe he knows the value of Christians fellowship)
I’ve heard it said, “to be successful in the Christian life you must hang out with the right people! You must cultivate Godly friendships.” A study recently showed that Americans have 1/3 fewer close friends than they did 20 years ago. A key factor in this is TV, I-pods, and the internet. It is sad we are becoming more and more detached from one another.
Hebrews 10:25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Don’t give up meeting together with God’s people. Invite them to your home. Invite them to go out together for a meal or some other kind of outing. Learn to have fun with your Christian brothers and sisters and it will make you happier.
#5. Lighten up, don’t take everything so serious. Learn to laugh at yourself and life with becomes so much less of a burden. The other day my 4 year old grand daughter took a look at my belly and then looked up at me and asked in a serious tone, “grandpa are you having a baby.” I could have been offended, but I have learned to laugh at things like this now. And because of that I feel like I’ve been set free to enjoy more of life’s silly mistakes. My Dad loved to laugh. I think we need to find things that we can laugh at. Why? It makes us happier.
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