Keys to Happiness
01/04/09 PM
Reading: Psalms 37:1-11
Text: Hebrews 13:5-6
I was flipping channels the other night and I happened upon one of the many cable news outlets which was conducting an interview of someone who had suffered some amount of financial loss in one of the recently publicized scandals from Wall Street. The interviewer at the time that I happened upon the scene was inquiring as to the state of happiness of the individual. Now I need to tell you that the person being interviewed was a person of some means, that is to say they have money, lots of money (the identity of the person is not really relevant.) And while they had been victimized and had suffered loss, they were by no means destitute. What struck me was they response to the question. As the interview was being conducted in an opulent living room of a Southern California mansion with the Pacific Ocean clearly visible through large bay windows, the person answered: “How can I possibly be happy in these circumstances?”
Now I don’t mean to belittle the situation, I am sorry that this person (and possibly the thousands of more) lost money of any amount but the answer touches on what I believe is a large problem for many, if not most, of us living in the US today and that is the tendency in our culture to equate happiness to riches (that is material things.) We seem to believe that in order to be happy we must have more – stuff. More money, larger house, newer car, or the latest electronic gadget is tied to our happiness quotient. The problem is that happiness from “things” is illusionary and is sure to leave us disappointed at best, and probably depressed and despondent.
The fact of the matter is that money can’t buy happiness. The American average standard of living is reported to be better than 90% of people in human history. (Car, indoor plumbing, separate bedroom for parents and children, enough food for the week.) But our culture insists that we must have more. Sometimes, perhaps most times, we still wish we had more.
The fact of the matter is that money doesn’t satisfy.
ILL: Ray Stedman calls it Destination Sickness: “The disease that hits you when you achieve all your dreams, when you accomplish all the goals that you think will give you fulfillment – and then find that you are not happy.”
In 2004 about a third of Americans reported being "very happy," the same share as in 1957, when Americans were only half as wealthy. Americans are also some of the most overworked people in the industrial world, putting in the equivalent of nine more weeks on the job each year than the average European.
We work and work and work to establish a career or build a house or raise a family – and then find that what we thought would make us happy does nothing of the kind.
It shouldn’t surprise us:
Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NASB) He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.
And with this thought, the realization that we will not and cannot be satisfied by riches or material possessions, let’s examine our scripture for this lesson and discover some keys to happiness:
Hebrews 13:5 - 6 (NASB) Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”
I.Free From The Love of Money
A.This is the first key to happiness
1.This was also addressed by Jesus
Luke 16:13 (NASB) “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” ( and Matthew 6:24)
2.…and Paul
1 Timothy 6:10 (NASB) For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
3.“Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed,” Jesus warned, “for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).
4.The scriptures provide numerous examples of the folly of greed.
a.Achan’s love of wealth cost Israel a defeat at Ai, the lives of at least thirty-six of his fellow countrymen, his own life, and the lives of his family and flocks (Joshua 7:1, 5, 25).
b.After Naaman was cleansed of leprosy, following Elisha’s instruction to wash seven times in the Jordan, the prophet refused any payment. But Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, later ran back to Naaman and deceived him in order to profit from the grateful Captain. After lying again, Gehazi was cursed by Elisha with Naaman’s leprosy (2 Kings 5:15-27). His greed led to deceit, lying, and leprosy.
c.Judas was greedy as well as traitorous, willing to betray the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver. (Luke 22)
d.Ananias and Sapphira paid for their greed and attempted deceit with their lives (Acts 5:1-10).
II.Be content with what you have
A.The second key to happiness
B.What contentment is not:
1.It is not complacency.
a.Complacency implies a detachment from our lives; a giving up.
b.Suggests we do not care.
2.It is not a natural attribute in our nature.
a.Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11 “…for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.”
b.Contentment is something we learn.
c.We learn through practice and know from experience.
3.It is not having everything we think we need.
a.Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 Solomon learned from practice and knew by experience that satisfaction and contentment can not be found in things.
b.Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NASB) He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.
C.What contentment is:
1.Shifting our focus from without to within.
a.Paul said in Philippians 4, “…in whatever circumstances I am.” Don’t look around to compare.
b.Colossians 3:2 “Set your sights on things above, not on things on the earth.”
2.It is not having great wealth it is having few wants.
a.Illustration: Navy drill instructor, “If you think of anything you need, let me know and I’ll teach you how to do without it.”
b.Contentment is not having everything we want, but enjoying everything we have.
III.Put Your Trust In God
A.“…for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”
1.God is our refuge and our anchor, our rock and our stronghold; He has never failed His people.
Joshua 21:45 (NASB) Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.
2.He has promised to meet our needs if we allow Him to meet our trust. (Read Matthew 6:31-33)
B.Fully trusting in money is not full trust in God.
1.Among other things, loving money is trusting in uncertain riches rather than the living God
1 Timothy 6:17 (NASB) Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.
2.By love of money we look for security in material things instead of in our heavenly Father.
3.The love of money may manifest in many forms.
a.Some persons love money but never acquire it.
b.Other persons’ love of money is in acquiring it. They live for the thrill of adding to their bank accounts, stock holdings, or conglomerates.
c.For others, loving money is hoarding it. Misers are not so much interested in increasing their possessions as in simply holding on to them. They love money for its own sake.
d.Still others are more interested in the things they can buy and display with their wealth. The conspicuous consumer is the big spender who flaunts his wealth.
4.Whatever form love of money may take the spiritual result is the same. It displeases God and separates us from Him.
5.Nicer clothes, a bigger house, another car, a richer vacation tempt all of us. But God tells us to be satisfied.
B.Covetousness is not a trifling sin before God.
1.It has kept many unbelievers out of the kingdom, and it has caused many believers to lose the joy of the kingdom, or worse.
2.It is not wrong, we must understand, to earn or to have wealth.
a.Abraham and Job were extremely wealthy.
b.The New Testament mentions a number of faithful believers who had wealth.
3.It is love of money that “is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10).
a.It is longing after it and trusting in it that is sinful. “If riches increase, do not set your heart upon them,” David counsels (Psalm 62:10).
b.Job puts the principle clearly: “If I have put my confidence in gold, and called fine gold my trust, if I have gloated because my wealth was great, and because my hand had secured so much;… That too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment, for I would have denied God above” (Job 31:24-25, 28).
IV.So that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not he afraid. What shall man do to me?”
A.If we have the Lord, we have it all.
1.Matthew 16:26a (NASB) “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? (The Lord asks)
Conversely, when we have God everything else is of no value.
2. Loss of anything, even everything, else can be no worse than a bad inconvenience which when surrendered to the Lord, will always be for our good.
3.Material possessions are temporary, anyway. We are going to lose them sooner or later. If the Lord decides we should lose them sooner, we should not worry.
Proverbs 23:4 - 5 (NASB) Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
a.When we love money, our eye is on the wrong kind of gain.
1 Timothy 6:6 - 8 (NASB) But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.
b.Discontentment is one of man’s greatest sins. Contentment is one of God’s greatest blessings.
B.How do we attain contentment?
4.How do we learn as Paul did to become satisfied with what we have?
a.First, we must know and accept that God is good and He will take care of us, His children.
Romans 8:28 (NASB) And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
b.Second, we should accept, not just acknowledge, but truly realize, that God is omniscient. He knows what we need as Jesus assures us, “…your heavenly Father knows that you need these things” (Matthew 6:32).
c.Third, we should in all humility think about what we truly deserve. What we want, or even need, is one thing; what we deserve is another. We should have the attitude of Jacob:
Genesis 32:10a (NASB) ”I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant;” The smallest good thing we receive of God is more than we deserve.
d.Fourth, we should recognize God’s supremacy, His sovereignty. God does not have the same plan for all of His children. What He lovingly gives to one, He just as lovingly may withhold from another. In regard to material blessings, we should listen to Hannah’s wisdom, “The Lord makes poor and rich” (1 Samuel 2:7). If He were to make us rich, we might be of outstanding service to Him. On the other hand, being rich might lead to our spiritual undoing. The Lord knows what we need, and will provide us with no less.
e.Fifth, we should continually remind ourselves what true riches are. It is the worldly, including the wealthy worldly, who are poor, and it is believers, including worldly poor ones, who are rich. Our treasure is in our homeland, in heaven, and we should set our minds “on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).
Conclusion
In the final analysis our contentment will be equal to the level of trust we give over to God. The more we focus on Him the less we will be concerned about anything material. When you are near Jesus Christ, you are overwhelmed with the riches that you have in Him, and earthly possessions simply will not matter. Contentment is having confidence that the Lord is my helper, I will not he afraid. What shall man do to me?
