Here is an excerpt from a sermon I preached February 18, 2018. The message was titled, “Everyone Deserves to Be Happy” from Psalm 1.1-3.
I hope these words bless you.
Graced & grateful,
jsb
“Within the body of Christ, we must be on our guard against promoting teachings that don’t align with the faith of our Scriptures. Despite how they sound- despite how well they preach- despite how good they feel, we must be on our watch against the little cliches and catch-phrases that seek to undermine, subvert, and distort the life of faith we are called to live… Every doctrine that is taught and preached should not be trusted nor practiced.
One such teaching that must be called into question is this idea that as believers we are to traverse through life without any concern about the things that happen to us… [Since] this world is not our home and we are merely strangers passing through (on our way to heaven), we should accept whatever life throws at us and ignore our own happiness because heaven is our home. As Ibsen inquired in his play Ghosts [we question], ‘What right do we have to happiness?’… God desires for you to enjoy your life and experience happines on Earth… He made you with feelings and passions, personalities and dreams, abilities and gifts [so] that you might enjoy the days that He has given you in this world that He has made…
There is no sin in being happy with your life… [To] say that as believers we are supposed to have joy instead of seeking happiness is a bit lopsided. Yes, the source of our joy is anchored in our faith in Jesus (that is not up for debate) but we should also be pursuing and obtaining happiness throughout our lives as well…
[Some of us] have become so heavenly minded until our lives are unfulfilled on Earth…singing about Jesus, but are suffering thorugh life- speaking about faith, but living as failures through life…
…[The] quality of your life is not a reward from God…but rather it is a result of the choices and teachings you choose to follow… [So] often we put our happiness in the hands of other people…when ultimately your happiness or sadness is about YOU and not about others. If you are going to achieve true happiness in life, it is going to be because you are pursuing the principles and teachings of God…”