Decide To Be Happy
God is happy (1 Tim 1:11, Rotherham) and wants us to be happy too (Ps 149:4, CW). He wants us to enjoy His own happiness (Mt 25:21, TEV). His desire is that we are happy (1 Thess 5:16, PEB). In fact, He commands us to be happy (2 Cor 13:11, LB). This makes sense because happiness flows from our being at peace – which, in turn, is received because we trust the Lord (Rom 15:13, AAT).
So how do we become happy? Besides having faith in God, we do what is right (Gen 4:7, NLV) with joy and thanksgiving because we respect the Lord (Ps 112:1, CW). Further, we hope in Christ (Rom 12:12, Phillips), serve others (Mt 10:39, CW), and display the characteristics of a kingdom subject which Jesus expressed in the beatitudes. These characteristics include mourning over our sin, wanting to listen to Him, having a proper attitude, forgiving others, being kind, loving to do what is right, being considerate, having good motives, being someone who tries to promote peace, and having God-honoring thoughts (Mt 5:3-8, CW).
Happiness is not a result of circumstances. Many think that if they only had more money, lived in a nicer house, had a different spouse, or some other such change in their environment, they would be happy. That is not true. Epictetus pointed out that “we are disturbed, not by things, but by our view of things.” This is what it says in the Bible: “As a man thinks, so is he” (Prov 23:7).
Happiness is a result of changing our way of thinking.