I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day as a beautiful, very hot & humid, day has dawned on the Texas Gulf Coast!
This morning I want to share several thoughts, ideas, pieces of information. This Happy Friday is not going to necessarily come back full circle with a pretty little bow on top. I am still learning, thinking, growing and I simply want to offer these things to you to give you the opportunity to do the same.
Early this week I heard someone on the radio say, "Happiness comes from the outside and joy comes from the inside." I thought a lot about that and at that moment I knew that this is what I wanted to write about with this Happy Friday. I assumed - yes, we all know the expression - "if you assume you..." :) - that joy is good, happiness is bad. In really trying to fully understand joy & happiness as opposed to just finding information that supported my assumptions - there is a Happy Friday in that statement! - I have had my assumptions challenged. Which means I still need to seek more knowledge & wisdom from the One who gives it! :)
O.K., so what I want to do here is share some excerpts.
The first excerpts I am going to share come from an article titled Joy-VS-Happiness by Sandra L. Brown M.A. which was posted on Psychology Today on December 18, 2012. You can read the full article at psychologytoday.com.
"Happiness is external. It's based on situations, events, people, places, things, and thoughts."
"Happiness is future oriented and it puts all its eggs in someone elses basket. It is dependent on outside situations, people, or events to align with your expectations so that the end result is your happiness."
"Joy comes when you make peace with who you are, where you are, why you are, and who you are not with. When you need nothing more than your truth and the love of a good God to bring peace, then you have settled into the abiding joy that is not rocked by relationships. It's not rocked by anything."
The second excerpts come from an article titled Joy vs Happiness by Psychologies which was posted on their website on September 1, 2015. You can read the full article at psychologies.co.uk.
"Joy and happiness are wonderful feelings to experience, but are very different. Joy is more consistent and is cultivated internally. It comes when you make peace with who you are, why you are and how you are, whereas happiness tends to be externally triggered and is based on other people, things, places, thoughts and events."
The following is by Rachel Fearnley, a lifestyle mentor, whom Psychologies asked to show us "how to finally find joy."
"Through my personal experience and lifelong studies, I've come to realize that there is a profound difference between joy and happiness. Aiming for joy is more beneficial, as it is less transitory than happiness and is not tied to external circumstances. So many of us have lost touch with that feeling, not knowing how to cultivate joy any more, so we resort to quick fixes like alcohol, drugs and addictive foods, or find fleeting moments of happiness from other places without truly experiencing it and cultivating it for ourselves..."
"It can be challenging for us to shift our mindset from one of negative thinking to one of joy, so here are three things you should do to increase the amount of joy in your life:
1. Quite you mind with meditation.
It's important to be able to tap into your heart rather than your head, your intuition rather than your thinking mind. Quieting the chatter in your mind and creating space within allows you to listen more closely to what brings you joy.
2. Cut down on social media.
We are so heavily influenced by what we 'should like/do/have/buy' that this is so often not in line with what truly brings us joy.
3. Keep a journal and practice gratitude for the things that bring you joy.
Cultivate gratitude wherever possible and even have gratitude for the things that challenge you, as these help you to grow and build strength. This also helps to define what brings you joy and what doesn't."
"Having an attitude of gratitude makes us more appreciative and trusting, gives us better self-esteem and helps us bounce back from stress. It allows us to view the world, and our situation within this world, in a more positive, healthy way."
These articles were validating my assumptions... and then I came across an article titled, Is There a Biblical Difference Between Happiness and Joy? Modern distinctions between happiness and joy are counterintuitive - and unbiblical by Randy Alcorn. The article was written on September 24, 2016. You can read the full article at onfaith.com. Here are some of the excerpts:
"John Piper writes, "If you have nice little categories for 'joy is what Christians have' and 'happiness is what the world has,' you can scrap those when you to to the Bible, because the Bible is indiscriminate in its uses of the language of happiness and joy and contentment and satisfaction."
"Here's a sampling of the more than 100 Bible verses in various translations that use joy and happiness together:
Esther 8:16 (NIV) - For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor.
Jeremiah 31:13 (HCSB) - I will turn their mourning into joy...and bring happiness out of grief."
"The relationship between joy and happiness in these passages refutes two common claims: (1) that the Bible doesn't talk about happiness, and (2) that joy and happiness have contrasting meanings. In fact, the Bible overflows with accounts of God's people being happy in Him.
Depicting joy in contrast with happiness has obscured the true meaning of both words. Joyful people are typically glad and cheerful - they smile and laugh a lot. To put it plainly, they're happy!"
"A hundred years ago, every Christian knew the meaning of joy. Today, if you ask a group of Christians, "What does joy mean?" most will grope for words, with only one emphatic opinion: that joy is different from happiness. This is like saying that rain isn't wet or ice isn't cold. Scripture, dictionaries, and common language don't support this separation."
"Some claim that joy is a fruit of the Spirit, not an emotion. But in Galatians 5:22, love and peace surround the word joy. If you love someone, don't you feel something? What is peace if not something you feel?"
"God created not only our minds but also our hearts. It's ill advised to pit happiness and joy against each other rather than embracing the emotional satisfaction of knowing, loving, and following Jesus."
"For too long we've distanced the gospel from what God created us to desire - and what He desires for us - happiness.
We need to reverse the trend. Let's redeem the word happiness in light of both Scripture and church history. Our message shouldn't be "Don't seek happiness," but "You'll find in Jesus the happiness and joy you've always longed for."
As I read these articles, and then reread them as I typed these excerpts for you, I think I have settled on 2 key points.
1. I am not so sure it matters whether you call it joy or happiness. I think the key is where you & I seek it. Who or what are we looking to for happiness and/or joy? That, I believe, is the real issue to decide.
2. As a Christian I should be happy...why wouldn't I be?!?! If I know I am created on purpose for a purpose, lacking nothing, by a God that loved me so much that He sent His one and only Son to die for my sins so I can be reunited with Him one day, why wouldn't I be? Yet many Christians walk around with such a sour countenance why in the world would anyone want to learn about their God? I don't think negativity, sadness, despair and the like are what Jesus had in mind when He said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations."
A couple of other things I have come across that I want to share with you quickly here before ending.
"...we don't live our lives based on reality but rather based on our perception of reality. This perception is influenced by the story we tell ourselves and the role we play in the story." - Excerpt from Training Camp by Jon Gordon
"If there is really hope in the future then there is power in the present." - Dabo Swinney
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families!
Kev
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