Is Christianity about being 'happy'?

[MatthewG]

What are some of your thoughts about this?

As a collection an whole of Christianity; there is some movements that just revolve around that of being in a state of 'happiness'. Is that truly what the bible indicates, that the use of the name Jesus is a name, claim it and grab it type of agenda or is there something else more to the faith itself?

Is there any part of suffering that is involved as a Christian? Especially being hated for the name of Christ Himself?

What are some of your thoughts, are their scriptures you can provide along the way to prove your position or point?

Is Christianity about being 'happy'?

 

[amadeus]

What are some of your thoughts about this?

As a collection an whole of Christianity; there is some movements that just revolve around that of being in a state of 'happiness'. Is that truly what the bible indicates, that the use of the name Jesus is a name, claim it and grab it type of agenda or is there something else more to the faith itself?

Is there any part of suffering that is involved as a Christian? Especially being hated for the name of Christ Himself?

What are some of your thoughts, are their scriptures you can provide along the way to prove your position or point?

Is Christianity about being 'happy'?

Being happy may sometimes be one of the end results, but that certainly should not be our primary goal. Can we ever attain to simply loving God in spite of being in the very worst of places according to carnal perceptions? Can we be in a horrible place in horrible circumstances and be happy?

Consider the thoughts of Corrie Ten Boom as she looks about her while her sister reads from the Bible in Ravensbruck, a Nazi concentration camp, during WWII.

The book began with a happy time for the family Ten Boom in Holland celebrating the 100th birthday of the their little watch and clock business in 1937. Her father would die before the two sisters were sent to Ravensbruck. Her sister, Betsie, would die in Ravensbruck. Both died as a result of their ill treatment by the Germans.

I would look about us as Betsie read, watching the light leap from face to face. More than conquerors.... It was not a wish. It was a fact. We knew it, we experienced it minute by minute -- poor, hated, hungry. We are more than conquerors. Not "we shall be". We are! Life in Ravensbruck took place on two separate levels, mutually impossible. One, the observable, external life, grew everyday more horrible. The other, the life lived with God, grew daily better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory.
[the above is a quotation from page 195 of "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom published in 1971]

Were they happy when Betsie was reading that Bible in Ravensbruck? Can people be happy in the midst of pain and suffering? Corrie described two levels of life. Do you suppose they were happy at either one of them?

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." I Cor 15:19

 

[An Apologetic Sheepdog]

Is Christianity about being 'happy'?

Really you need to specifically define what happy is (and isn't) and even then possibly differentiate between it and things like 'content" or even "satisfied" for this to be answered.

People have different perceptions and definitions of "happy"

 

[Truman]

When I feel peace, it is good. When I feel joy, it is good. When I feel loved, it is good. Then I am happy.
When I don't feel these things, I tell myself that my feelings are faulty indicators and that I am not to allow myself to be led by them.
I remember what God's word has to say about such things.
This life can be a turbulent, storm-tossed sea. It will pass.
Hang on when you have to, fall on your knees and cry out to God when you need to, enjoy Him when you are able to, and in all things, give thanks to Him. For this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!
I am sure of this; I will yet see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! I have a living hope!
I am blessed! Happy? Sure.

 

[Addy]

When I feel peace, it is good. When I feel joy, it is good. When I feel loved, it is good. Then I am happy.
When I don't feel these things, I tell myself that my feelings are faulty indicators and that I am not to allow myself to be led by them.
I remember what God's word has to say about such things.
This life can be a turbulent, storm-tossed sea. It will pass.
Hang on when you have to, fall on your knees and cry out to God when you need to, enjoy Him when you are able to, and in all things, give thanks to Him. For this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!
I am sure of this; I will yet see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! I have a living hope!
I am blessed! Happy? Sure.

I wish I could "like" this post 100 times.... I am with you on this.... in all things GIVE THANKS.... for all things... be grateful... Embrace sorrow and suffering when they arrive... for they come to teach us something and to strengthen us. Life is about seasons... and every season is important.

 

[Truman]

I wish I could "like" this post 100 times.... I am with you on this.... in all things GIVE THANKS.... for all things... be grateful... Embrace sorrow and suffering when they arrive... for they come to teach us something and to strengthen us. Life is about seasons... and every season is important.

Trials and tribulations are blessings in disguise, nesting in the skies of our souls.
They come for a reason, remaining for a season, accomplishing the reason they were sent...they're heaven-sent.
This is how I see it. For me, the hard part can be keeping sight of it.

 

[farouk]

I wish I could "like" this post 100 times.... I am with you on this.... in all things GIVE THANKS.... for all things... be grateful... Embrace sorrow and suffering when they arrive... for they come to teach us something and to strengthen us. Life is about seasons... and every season is important.

@Addy Although 'blessed' in Psalm 1 could be translated 'happy', yet the package of life as a whole under God's sovereignty must indeed be embraced; Isaiah 40.10 even says: 'I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction'.

 

[marks]

Is Christianity about being 'happy'?

Rejoice in the Lord always, and I say again, rejoice!

And we also glory in tribulations . . .

The fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy . . .

Chastening is not joyous, but grievous . . .

I think that we are to be supremely happy, except when God is correcting something in us, which may not be such fun. But that even deeper inside from that present unhappiness, God intends there to be joy in us.

Much love!

 

[marks]

I wish I could "like" this post 100 times.... I am with you on this.... in all things GIVE THANKS.... for all things... be grateful... Embrace sorrow and suffering when they arrive... for they come to teach us something and to strengthen us. Life is about seasons... and every season is important.

There you are!!!!

 

[farouk]

Rejoice in the Lord always, and I say again, rejoice!

And we also glory in tribulations . . .

The fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy . . .

Chastening is not joyous, but grievous . . .

I think that we are to be supremely happy, except when God is correcting something in us, which may not be such fun. But that even deeper inside from that present unhappiness, God intends there to be joy in us.

Much love!

@marks Philippians talks about suffering. But also about a lot of joy...

 

[MatthewG]

Being happy may sometimes be one of the end results, but that certainly should not be our primary goal. Can we ever attain to simply loving God in spite of being in the very worst of places according to carnal perceptions? Can we be in a horrible place in horrible circumstances and be happy?

Consider the thoughts of Corrie Ten Boom as she looks about her while her sister reads from the Bible in Ravensbruck, a Nazi concentration camp, during WWII.

The book began with a happy time for the family Ten Boom in Holland celebrating the 100th birthday of the their little watch and clock business in 1937. Her father would die before the two sisters were sent to Ravensbruck. Her sister, Betsie, would die in Ravensbruck. Both died as a result of their ill treatment by the Germans.

I would look about us as Betsie read, watching the light leap from face to face. More than conquerors.... It was not a wish. It was a fact. We knew it, we experienced it minute by minute -- poor, hated, hungry. We are more than conquerors. Not "we shall be". We are! Life in Ravensbruck took place on two separate levels, mutually impossible. One, the observable, external life, grew everyday more horrible. The other, the life lived with God, grew daily better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory.
[the above is a quotation from page 195 of "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom published in 1971]

Were they happy when Betsie was reading that Bible in Ravensbruck? Can people be happy in the midst of pain and suffering? Corrie described two levels of life. Do you suppose they were happy at either one of them?

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." I Cor 15:19

Really you need to specifically define what happy is (and isn't) and even then possibly differentiate between it and things like 'content" or even "satisfied" for this to be answered.

People have different perceptions and definitions of "happy"

When I feel peace, it is good. When I feel joy, it is good. When I feel loved, it is good. Then I am happy.
When I don't feel these things, I tell myself that my feelings are faulty indicators and that I am not to allow myself to be led by them.
I remember what God's word has to say about such things.
This life can be a turbulent, storm-tossed sea. It will pass.
Hang on when you have to, fall on your knees and cry out to God when you need to, enjoy Him when you are able to, and in all things, give thanks to Him. For this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!
I am sure of this; I will yet see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! I have a living hope!
I am blessed! Happy? Sure.

Rejoice in the Lord always, and I say again, rejoice!

And we also glory in tribulations . . .

The fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy . . .

Chastening is not joyous, but grievous . . .

I think that we are to be supremely happy, except when God is correcting something in us, which may not be such fun. But that even deeper inside from that present unhappiness, God intends there to be joy in us.

Much love!

What about the idea of suffering? Is that a tenant in the bible to? To suffer on behalf of Christ?

 

[MatthewG]

Being happy may sometimes be one of the end results, but that certainly should not be our primary goal. Can we ever attain to simply loving God in spite of being in the very worst of places according to carnal perceptions? Can we be in a horrible place in horrible circumstances and be happy?

Consider the thoughts of Corrie Ten Boom as she looks about her while her sister reads from the Bible in Ravensbruck, a Nazi concentration camp, during WWII.

The book began with a happy time for the family Ten Boom in Holland celebrating the 100th birthday of the their little watch and clock business in 1937. Her father would die before the two sisters were sent to Ravensbruck. Her sister, Betsie, would die in Ravensbruck. Both died as a result of their ill treatment by the Germans.

I would look about us as Betsie read, watching the light leap from face to face. More than conquerors.... It was not a wish. It was a fact. We knew it, we experienced it minute by minute -- poor, hated, hungry. We are more than conquerors. Not "we shall be". We are! Life in Ravensbruck took place on two separate levels, mutually impossible. One, the observable, external life, grew everyday more horrible. The other, the life lived with God, grew daily better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory.
[the above is a quotation from page 195 of "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom published in 1971]

Were they happy when Betsie was reading that Bible in Ravensbruck? Can people be happy in the midst of pain and suffering? Corrie described two levels of life. Do you suppose they were happy at either one of them?

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." I Cor 15:19

As believers we can probably be looked at as miserable people? What does that verse mean to you exactly?

 

[farouk]

What about the idea of suffering? Is that a tenant in the bible to? To suffer on behalf of Christ?

@MatthewG Philippians talks about suffering, in the context also of an Epistle that talks about joy...

 

[Truman]

I rejoice in my sufferings! Hallelujah!

 

[MatthewG]

When I feel peace, it is good. When I feel joy, it is good. When I feel loved, it is good. Then I am happy.
When I don't feel these things, I tell myself that my feelings are faulty indicators and that I am not to allow myself to be led by them.
I remember what God's word has to say about such things.
This life can be a turbulent, storm-tossed sea. It will pass.
Hang on when you have to, fall on your knees and cry out to God when you need to, enjoy Him when you are able to, and in all things, give thanks to Him. For this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!
I am sure of this; I will yet see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! I have a living hope!
I am blessed! Happy? Sure.

Your feelings; there are times of all of those feelings that we have.

Do you experience suffering as well?

 

[MatthewG]

What does it mean to suffer for Christ?

As a Christian believer today @farouk ?

 

[MatthewG]

Rejoice in the Lord always, and I say again, rejoice!

And we also glory in tribulations . . .

The fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy . . .

Chastening is not joyous, but grievous . . .

I think that we are to be supremely happy, except when God is correcting something in us, which may not be such fun. But that even deeper inside from that present unhappiness, God intends there to be joy in us.

Much love!

What about suffering what does that mean to you suffering for Christ Sake?

 

[farouk]

What does it mean to suffer for Christ?

As a Christian believer today @farouk ?

The Lord indeed allows it, but brings us through with joy also...

 

[MatthewG]

I wish I could "like" this post 100 times.... I am with you on this.... in all things GIVE THANKS.... for all things... be grateful... Embrace sorrow and suffering when they arrive... for they come to teach us something and to strengthen us. Life is about seasons... and every season is important.

What does suffering for Christ mean to you?

 

[MatthewG]

The Lord indeed allows it, but brings us through with joy also...

But what is that like as a believer? What is the experience of it are you able to articulate it?