- MYTHS CHRISTIANS SOMETIMES BELIEVE -
God Just Wants Me To Be Happy
Introduction
We are continuing our series of Myths Christians Sometimes Believe. In the last message, we talked about the myth that “God Won’t Give Me More Than I Can Handle.” Our myth in this message is a common one: “God Just Wants Me To Be Happy.” This is a common myth that is repeated often - it indicates that our personal happiness is the paramount good - what God wants more than anything else. Like each of the myths we will explore, there is a kernel of truth in there - but it is overcome by the misunderstanding of the saying.
The big problem is this: What does it mean to be happy?
Audrey Hepburn said, “The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it's all that matters.”
George Burns: "“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.”
Charles M. Schulz: “Happiness is a warm puppy.”
Happiness is defined by each individual in a different way. Happiness is elusive to many people - always out of reach.
"How many times are we convinced there is something better on the other side of the fence? … Cows get their heads stuck in fences, and fish end up hooked and then cooked. Ironic, isn’t it? When the pursuit of what you thought would bring you happiness is actually the very thing that robs you of it?” - Shane Pruitt
So how do we think our way through this statement as Christians?
1. When What Makes Us Happy Isn’t Good For Us
God doesn’t want you to be happy when it makes you unwise.
-Ephesians 5:15 NLT “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.”
God wants us to live wisely, make wise decisions, reap the benefits of wise behavior. Jesus said that wise people are like those who build their house on the rock, safe when the waters rise.
God doesn’t want us to be happy when it causes us to sin. So often this is when this myth appears - we want to affirm that we believe in God and that we intend to follow our flesh.
1 Peter 1:15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do…
Many things we think will make us happy, just won’t. Pleasure-seeking, Revenge, Material things. God wants us to be both happy and holy. Happiness without holiness is dangerous.
God does not want us to be happy when it means loving the world more than Him.
1 John 2:15-17 NLT Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
When we follow God’s plan for our lives, we will know what true happiness is. Psalm 68:3 “But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God’s presence. Let them be filled with joy.”
2. Joy is Greater Than Happiness.
Happiness is is tied to circumstances. Circumstances change. What if God desires more for us than happiness? Joy is a settled state of contentment, confidence, and hope that comes only from trusting Him.
Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22)
“Out of all of the great gift givers in the world … God is the greatest of them all.” - Shane Pruitt
When God comes to live within you, you get love, peace, hope, life, and joy. The fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5 is a list of characteristics that should naturally flow out of Christian’s lives when they have God inside them.
Joy is a Command from Scripture.
Philippians 4:4 - what it does not say:
Rejoice when everything is going your way.
Rejoice when everything makes sense.
Rejoice if you feel like it.
Instead, Rejoice Always. It’s not a suggestion. We are not told to always be happy, but we are commanded to rejoice always.
Joy is built on a Person named Jesus.
Joy will always be wherever Jesus and His Spirit are.
Joy is not always laughing, smiling, and being silly. Don’t confuse the joy promised in the Bible with upbeat feelings. Remember, feelings come and go, but genuine Christian joy remains.
Colossians 1:15-18:
He makes the invisible God visible.
He is the firstborn over all creation - the priority over all that is created.
All things were created through him and for and he is the one who sustains all things (16-17)
He is the head of the church, in all things preeminent (18)
Jesus is above all and deserves first place in everything.
Conclusion
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Happiness may not come the way we expect it to, or be packaged in the wrapper we assume it will. But if it’s from Him, it will be beautiful; and likely better than what we planned.
God Just Wants Me to be Happy.
There is nothing wrong with wanting happiness, because God wants it for us too.
It’s just a question of not exalting it over God.
It’s an issue of being willing to surrender to Him for those seasons that don’t feel so easy, while trusting that His
blessings are still on the way.
William Paul Young writes of speaking at a women’s prison in Alberta, Canada. “Most of the women are here because of a relationship gone wrong, and their suffered betrayals and losses are visible in their bluster of defiance or barely concealed shame … I don’t remember what I talked about. It probably had to do with the prisons in my own life…about how we hold on to the certainty of our pain rather than take the risk of trusting
anyone ever again. I finish my talk and only a few leave… I hug everyone, which I am certain is a violation of all sorts of rules… A woman stands waiting, her body tense with emotion. When I simply take her in my arms, it is as if I set off a charge that lets the dam burst. She sobs uncontrollably, for minutes. … Finally, she stops the
heaving enough to find some words. 'Do you really think…that Papa is fond of me?’…‘Yes … Papa is especially fond of you.’ ‘That’s all I needed to know. That’s all I needed to know.’
Young concludes his chapter: That is all any of us needs to know.
Questions For Discussion
1. What are some of the differences between the world’s definition of happiness and the Bible’s definition of happiness?
2. It’s easy to believe that God’s greatest desire for your life is for you to be happy. But if this isn’t true, what is God’s greatest desire for your life?
3. Can you think of an example where choosing to be holy now will make you happy later?
4. What are some practical ways you find your happiness in God?
(Ex: serving others, helping someone in need, extending forgiveness, being kind, etc.)
5. Think through Shane Pruitt’s statement: “We attempt to find happiness from favorable circumstances, but we receive joy only as a gift from the favorable God.” How would you explain that statement?
6. Verses to read and talk about how they relate to happiness/joy:
Proverbs 3:18 NLT
Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.
Psalm 86:4-5 NLT
Give me happiness, O Lord, for I give myself to you. O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.
Proverbs 10:28 NLT
The hopes of the godly result in happiness, but the expectations of the wicked come to nothing.
Luke 15:10 NLT
In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
1 Peter 3:10-12 NLT
For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.”
7. Shane Pruitt wrote that joy is a “settled state of contentment, confidence, and hope that comes only from trusting Him.” Read what Paul wrote to Timothy about that in 1 Timothy 6:6-8. Why do you think contentment is a source of joy.
8. What are some practical ways we can remind ourselves to rejoice when circumstances are unhappy?
9. What else did you want to talk about today?
Additional Helps:
Video:
Lies About God: “God Just Wants Me To Be Happy”
https://youtu.be/5jPpLCoCJKw
Devotional Reading:
Actually, God Does Want You To Be Happy
https://relevantmagazine.com/faith/actually-god-does-want-you-be-happy/
Resources
Small Group Notes from NHWW.
Four Ways God Wants Us To Be Happy
https://www.nhww.org/img/DGRST-Pt-4-God-Just-Wants-Me-To-Be-Happy.pdf
Owens, David. Sermon.
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/does-god-want-me-to-be-happy-david-owens-sermon-on-happiness-173431
Pruitt, Shane. 9 Common Lies Christians Believe. Multnomah, 2019.
Relevant Magazine article. https://relevantmagazine.com/faith/actually-god-does-want-you-be-happy/
Young, Wm. Paul. Lies We Believe About God. Atria Books, 2017.
___________________
To receive sermon notes in your email inbox, subscribe here:
https://forsythesermons.substack.com/
To receive emails from John Dobbs on topics of faith, books, photography, and miscellany:
https://johndobbs.substack.com/
To watch videos of sermons from Forsythe Church of Christ:
https://www.youtube.com/c/ForsytheChurchofChrist
Our church website is http://facoc.org
___________________
