Happiness
Minister Sondria McWilliams
1st Quarter 2024
As I am preparing for 2024 to be the best year ever (I pray we all are), there are definitely some areas we should want to grow in. Growth and happiness are biblically linked. Happiness is experienced through growth. Sim-CHaH is the Hebrew word for happiness. My Rabbi, Daniel Lapin, says it better in his book, Buried Treasure. "Growth leads to happiness! Our souls simply reject stagnation. Deep down we rebel when the feeling that we are going nowhere subconsciously overwhelms us. When each day seems to follow upon the next with no progress that really matters, most humans find our spirits shutting down."
Hopefully, this truth leads us to focus on growth, which is easier said than done. It reminds me of a scripture in the Bible that always has me feeling a little challenged. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." — Galatians 5:16.
We often begin the new year focusing on goals, but if we deliberately seek to grow we will always hit our goals. John Maxwell's book (a book everyone should have in their library), The 15 Invaluable Laws Of Growth, says, "No one improves by accident. Personal growth doesn't just happen on its own. And once you're done with your formal education, you must take complete ownership of the growth, because nobody else will do it for you."
Here is one last quote from Rabbi Daniel Lapin's book that I hope will empower you. "Your happiness does not depend on anyone else! No other person in the entire world has power over your state of happiness. Happiness is not a state of mind brought about when others create an environment that you favor. It is just a decision you make, no more and no less. Your happiness need never depend on anyone or anything. What an enormously liberating idea! For the vast majority of people, happiness is a choice, and the road to achieving it is marked by growth."
The Lord wants us to experience happiness always. But how have I (we) missed it? Our Bible translates happiness to say; Joy, true joy, pleasure or gladness. You should have nothing but joy (happiness). (Deuteronomy 16:15b BBE)
