ddhr.org - Source of happiness

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Source of happiness (3)

Dec 17, 2007

I'm doubtful of people who claim that [fill in the blank] has finally made them happy. I was just talking to a guy a few weeks ago who said he's finally happy now that he has a girlfriend. It made me cringe.

If you're basing your happiness on something that's absolutely guaranteed to change, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Things like relationships are guaranteed to change. People change. Feelings change. Circumstances change. It's not to say you can't be happy with your mate throughout your entire lifetime, but it's naive to say, "After a few months of dating I've come to the conclusion that I'm finally happy because I have a girlfriend."

The main reason it made me cringe was because I can already imagine the conversation I'll have with this guy in six months. It'll either be

"She broke up with me." *cry* *moan*
"As soon as I have a place to myself, I'll finally be happy."

Begin endless loop. #psychology

Comments

#1	Rus	Dec 17, 2007
	Good post, Dave. One of my pastor's sermons a few weeks back was about this. It was quite the challenge and in essence I have "deduced" that anything we base our life/wellbeing on outside of God is simply idolatry. For those outside of who do not believe in God, well...the deduction might be slightly different.

#2	Dave	Dec 18, 2007
	That's not to say you can't be happy with a girlfriend or your own place or anything else. But if Christians are supposed to put God at the center, then yes, putting anything else in the center is idolatry. The funny thing is that the conversation happened at a Bible study, and the guy is a Christian. Sometimes the hardest people to reach are the ones inside the church.

#3	Rus	Dec 18, 2007
	Agreed. Lots of things will provide happiness, but it's the, "If I just get that new car, new house, better salary, or..." with the thought that THAT was the key to peace/happiness, well...first it's fools gold, and second it's idolatry.