Happiness vs. Holiness

Myself posted by Erin Davis on 03/03/10; 19 comments

Yesterday, I asked you to consider the difference between happiness and holiness. I loved reading your comments. What a sharp group of girls you are!

Happiness is an emotion. You might feel happy when you have a good day, or get a great compliment, or have the chance to do something really fun. Holiness is not an emotion. It isn't something you feel. It is something you are. To be holy means to be set apart, pure, or sacred. Practically speaking, we can pursue holiness by making choices that help us to be more like Christ. Unlike happiness, seeking holiness almost always requires sacrifice.

Jesus certainly knew the difference between happiness and holiness. In Matthew 4:2–3, He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights despite Satan's temptation to turn stones into bread. Doing so might have made Him happy temporarily, but avoiding temptation kept Him set apart. In Matthew 15:29, we find Jesus trying to rest on a mountainside. He barely sat down when a crowd of people came to Him looking to be healed. Protecting His alone time might have made Jesus happy, but that's not what He did. Instead He ministered to those in need around Him even when it was inconvenient. The painful death Jesus experienced on the cross didn't make Him happy. But He willingly endured it because He is a holy God who desired to reconcile us to Himself.

Over and over Jesus made hard choices and deprived Himself of comfort in order to live a life that was pleasing to the Father. Jesus is the King of Kings. Because of His royal position, our culture would say that He deserved to be comfortable during His time on earth. But Jesus didn't live with that sense of entitlement. He chose to live humbly and to pursue holiness instead of happiness.

He calls us to the same standard.

First Peter 1:16 says, "Be holy, because I am holy."

This passage doesn't say be happy because I am happy. It doesn't say be comfortable because I am comfortable. Instead, God's Word encourages us to seek holiness because of Christ's example.

Does the way that you live indicate that you are more concerned with being holy or being happy? Use the list below to evaluate whether you are more concerned with happiness or holiness. If God reveals an area of weakness to you, spend some time praying that He will show you how to pursue holiness in that area.
    
  • The way I treat my family
  • The way I spend my time
  • The way I spend my money
  • My plans for the future
  • My dating relationships
  • Who I spend my free time with
  • The way I use my possessions
  • My prayer life

Comments

HEY, GIRLS! We love hearing from you, but feel limited in the ways we can help. For one thing, we’re not trained counselors. If you’re seeking counsel, we encourage you to talk to your pastor or a godly woman in your life as they’ll know more details and can provide you with ongoing accountability and help. Also, the following comments do not necessarily reflect the views of Revive Our Hearts. We reserve the right to remove comments which might be unhelpful, unsuitable, or inappropriate.

    Courtney
    Re:
    on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 7:43 am
    i enjoyed reading; great thoughts! thanks for posting erin!
    Ann
    Thumbs UP!
    on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 10:29 am
    These posts have been so good. There are not many Christians nowadays who want to talk about this. I read someone else's comment on the last post I think and they asked where this idea of God is all about us being happy came from. In my Western Lit class it was fascinating learning about all the different philosophical centers in the past. One that I thought still influenced the Church specifically was Humanism. There is a really good sermon by Paris Reidhead called Ten Shekels and A Shirt about Humanism. You can find it on sermonindex.com or you can listen to clips at http://ellerslie.com/BT3.html

    With the challenge at the end, I think I am striving for happiness over holiness at home, the way I spend my time and my prayer life. Good challenge.

    Wow, I just started listening to the clips from the above link and I totally forgot how powerful they are. Listen to it! :)
    Sarah D.
    RE:
    on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 10:32 am
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrVJJ09AQeM

    Above is a link to a YouTube video of a skit that this article reminded me of. Definitely worth checking out.
    -Sarah
    ChristianDaughter
    ...
    on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 10:36 am
    Thanks for this post! From now on I'll try to be more HOLY than HAPPY. :D
    Ellen
    Re:
    on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 12:19 pm
    och! i really need to spend some time in prayer. great post erin!
    laura
    trying my best
    on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 2:54 pm
    i really do try my best to live a holy life and so far living a holy life makes me happy. its a win win situation. yeah there are always bumps in the road, sharp corners i dont ever seem to see coming, but i can deal with them cause i have GOD to deal with me. and that makes me feel so much better knowing i always i have someone to fall back on.
    Tiffy
    PROBLEM
    on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 4:42 pm
    i have this REALLY important thing to ask everyone, but i dont noe how to post it...
    am i even allowed to sign up?!

    sorry for spamming this wall... i read ur para :0 AND I TOTALLY AGREE WITH U, to be happy is to dwell in His word, and be holy like Him. :D
    Marissa
    Re:
    on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 6:06 pm
    Well i've been workin on being compleely focused on God. I've been workin on my prayer life. To stay focused I actually kneel while I pray. It really works. I hope this helps.
    Love in Christ,
    marissa
    Celesta
    off subject actually :P
    on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 8:12 pm
    Hey in the book there is something in the lies about boy section, it is a suggestion to make a list with good non "lovey doviness" books and movies.So i was wondering if you guys have any recommendations. I guess I don't know of a whole lot of books for sure, i have read a lot of classics already and it would seem there is a lot more christian "romance" than anything else Christian, but maybe i am just misinformed if you could post a list of some you know, I would REALLY appreciate it! Thanks a bunch :)
    Bree
    Confused...
    on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 9:51 pm
    This kinda doesn't have much to do with this topic. I guess in a way it does. But sometimes I'm not sure if I'm saved. I get really confused because I know all the stuff, like how to get saved and to do devotions and stories, etc. I know it, but do I believe it? I have really been going away from God lately. I haven't been having my devotions, I haven't been praying at all. I have a bad attitude. I want people to get saved, but at the same time, I wonder if I am saved myself. Any advice on this? I don't know what I should be feeling! I feel numb all the time and tired... its like I don't believe anything. Sometimes I don't even think about how God exists.
    Tori
    Happiness vs. Holiness
    on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 10:38 pm
    Wow! This post really pointed out a lot of areas in my life that I need to work on. Thanks for posting this. I'm really going to try and be holy rather then happy.
    edavis
    Tiffy
    on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 10:18 am
    I don't understand your question. Can you ask it in a different way?

    Erin
    Marissa
    Re: Celesta
    on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 8:11 pm
    Hey, girl! I loooove all of Ted Dekkers books. They are a mix of sci fi and fantasy. If you like more girly books then try out Melody Carlsons books. I like The Secret Life of Samantha McGregor series. It hardly has romance at all (just crushes kinda). I hope this helps!!!
    Lindsey
    Happiness:
    on Friday, March 5, 2010 at 12:46 pm
    I think I finally came to a conclusion on the popular belief and question that Christians and the unsaved alike have or believe: "God wants me to be happy." I believe God wants us to be happy in HIM and only him, he doesn't want us happy with this world or the material things of this world. Does that make sense?
    Alyssa
    totally agrre
    on Friday, March 5, 2010 at 1:54 pm
    I totally agree with this post but want to add something also that I think is missing. God does want us to be joyful in him even when things do go wrong. I think that the problem with saying God wants me to be happy is that nothing in life will make someone happy except God. God desires us to have joy but that joy only comes from God not from material things. A person can choose to be joyful in God even when trials come and the person does not feel "happy". Just like it is said in the post happiness is an emotion....but true joy is something that comes from God. I said this in the other post but even someone who has money a great family and friends can be unhappy if they do not have God.
    Krlosier
    Re:
    on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 1:50 pm
    I used to think, oh I can disobey my parents if they are prohibiting me to do something that God wants. Then I would decide that He wanted me to be happy, so if I disobeyed my parents I could be happy and obeying God too. That's not how things worked out, as I found out. But I think God wants us to be inwardly joyful, but we can't really be happy ALL the time. I wouldn't say Jesus was exactly happy all the time. Joyful- sure, but not happy.
    Trina Hipps
    Re:
    on Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 10:39 pm
    I Think God wants us to be happy, But by His standards, not By human standards. we can learn to be happy and content in any situation, and i think that is what god wants, he wants us to be happy and content in every thing he puts up through.
    Just a few thoughts..
    edavis
    Bree
    on Monday, March 8, 2010 at 2:59 pm
    Do you have a pastor or a youth pastor that you can talk to about these issues? This is really something that is best handled in person and often over multiple conversations.

    Let me know.

    Erin
    Taline
    RE:Tiffy + my comment :)
    on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 5:14 am
    This post is absolutely gr8 cz we all have the thing of ignoring Holiness for the sake of DURABLE Happiness..so i think we should be more concious regarding this issue!!!..thnx for the post Erin..


    In btw..i think i got what Tiffy's ques. is...she's asking if she can sign up for "lies young women believe", too!!!
    Yes..ofcourse u can...everyone can! u will recieve daily e-mails in ur inbox in which a summary or the title of the day's subject will be posted..hope it helped!!

    God Bless!

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