Happiness – The Unnecessary Emotion

Happiness is one of the most overrated emotions in religion as a whole. Everyone in life is pursuing the elusive combination of brain chemicals, yet no one ever seems to find them.

“He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

Isaiah 53:3

“For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”

Ecclesiastes 1:18

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4

People assume that what God wants for them is this good feeling that happiness provides. The truth is that how we feel is irrelevant and should not even be considered as part of the picture because emotions only muddy the waters of logical thinking. 

The lust for happiness has become increasingly popular over the years, as human beings have become less and less happy over time.

Entanglement with the world (2 Timothy 2:4), self-absorption (2 Timothy 3:1-5) and the breakdown of community institutions have contributed to this famine of happiness. People are no longer participating in the activities that provide purpose to the individual. People are more solitary than ever before, yet they do not want to be. Some men think isolation brings happiness, but it only forces them to reflect on themselves and their life which causes sorrow. To escape this sorrow they medicate through television and social media, reinforcing the idea in their minds that isolation is what is making them feel better. Virtual existence grows into a disease that decays the mind. Those who live in a virtual world endlessly pursue happiness and find it not. 

Happiness is extremely popular with liberals both moderate and radical.

Liberals tend to place far too much emphasis on emotions in general, but they especially pursue happiness, and it pervades their worship service shifting the focus away from God and onto their own feelings. They pursue happiness and manipulate worship to their will in order to achieve it. This is not only wrong, but the pursuit of happiness in worship is in vain. If we are chasing happiness, we are running in the wrong direction. A prostitute can bring happiness for a few minutes. So can heroin or a line of cocaine. This is because, again, happiness is just a chemical reaction in the brain, so don’t worship it. 

Was Christ happy while He was on earth? I am not convinced that He was, as the scriptures note He was a “Man of Sorrow and Acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). However, Christ was filled with purpose despite a lack of earthly “happiness”. He endured temptation over thirty years and worked with human beings on a constant basis, which is a feat in itself. There does not seem to be any reason to believe that Jesus was overwhelmed with emotions all the time. Jesus was on the earth for one reason: to save the world of men. 

We as men must be filled with a meaningful purpose that overrides any given emotion at any given time. It should not matter how we feel, we should be able to do what is right and be able to keep to our purpose. Purpose is infinitely more important than happiness. Finding and maintaining meaningful and beneficial purposes for our lives should be what we do every single day. 

Mantra

Emotions do not matter. 

Application

Get rid of the idea that happiness is required in your life.

It is a luxury that will not always be present in your life. When you pull a double shift on Saturday, fight with the wife, are mad at the kids, get two hours of sleep then show up on Sunday for a slow, dry lesson and all the songs you don’t like, are you happy? No. Can you worship in spirit and truth regardless (John 4:24)? Absolutely. 

KEY: We do not have to be happy to go to heaven, but when we get to heaven we will absolutely be happy. 

You must fill your mind with purpose. Focus on God, family, doing meaningful work to the best of your ability. These actions bring purpose and as a byproduct they occasionally bring happiness. But trying to achieve happiness alone should never be your goal, it is a self-centered action and almost never profits. You must focus your mind on taking actions. Action will always be more important and more profitable than emotions. Gather strength for yourself. Do great work. Avoid the trappings of emotion. Be a Man.