What is the KEY to Happiness?

Being a giver, is the key to happiness in life.  When we don't love like God loves, we will become unhappy in this life.   Put on the mind of Christ, who laid down his life for others.   Selfish love makes us unhappy.  That is the kind of love that says, "I want to receive just as much or more than I give out."   Jesus said, "IT is more blessed to give than receive."  And that is true in love as well.  When you take on the mindset of Jesus and you define love as what you give to others, instead of what you want back from others, you will find the joy of God in your life.    God is love.    It is appointed unto men once to die and then the judgment.  We will stand before an all mighty and loving God.  He is going to want to know if we learned to LOVE in this life, just as HE Loved.  God is love, so selfishness and greed, malice and pride have to be put aside, and we must learn to walk in love as God is love.  How can we do this?  Ask God to shed abroad his love in your life, so that you can walk in love.  What does God expect from us?  He expects us to love, even the unlovable people, just as He loves them.  THE MORE YOU SAY, "I'M NOT GOING TO EVER HELP ANYONE AGAIN, I'M TIRED OF BEING USED, THE MORE SELF CENTERED AND UNHAPPY YOU WLL BECOME!     Don't let your love grow cold.  Jesus said in the last days the world would be so full of evil that the love of many would grow cold.  Don't let that happen to you.  Who wants to become and old bitter person?    Some people get more bitter as they get older, and some people get so sweet and kind.   If you are not getting sweeter and kinder as you get older what makes you think you are growing closer to heaven as you get older? 

Mathew 25:

31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:

33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35For I was hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in:

36Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came unto me.

37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you hungry, and fed you? or thirsty, and gave you drink?

38When saw we you a stranger, and took you in? or naked, and clothed you?

39Or when saw we you sick, or in prison, and came unto you?

40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Since you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.

41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42For I was hungry, and you gave me no food: I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink:

43I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and you visited me not.

44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you hungry, or thirsty or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto you?

45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Since you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.

46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

 

This parable is talking about the coming judgment when we will all stand before God to give an account for our lives that He gave to us on this earth.   God expects us to care for our fellow mankind.  If you say you walk in Christ but do not have love you are nothing, and your religion is useless.  For anyone that knows God will love His fellow man and show him mercy and compassion just as God has done for us. 

 

The Bible also tells the story of the Rich man and Lazarus. 

Luke 16

19There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day; 20and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores 21and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom; the rich man also died and was buried; 23and in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. 24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime didst receive thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted here, and thou art tormented. 26And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who would pass from here to you cannot; neither can they pass from there to us. 27Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou would send him to my father’s house, 28for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30And he said, No, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31And he said unto him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, even though one rose from the dead.

 

The Rich man had no compassion, no love, no mercy, no charity, no kindness, no giving, no concern for the sick beggar Lazarus.   And the rich man died and went to Hell.   Even in Hell he thought himself better than Lazarus.  He saw Lazarus and he said to Abraham, send Lazarus down here to wait on me, to bring me water...He still thought of Lazarus as a second class person that would serve him and wait on him even in Hell. 

 

Listen very carefully to this:  How we treat others in this life especially those less fortunate than us is going to follow us into the next life, into eternity, where we will stand before God.   I am not the one that wrote these parables.  These are both parables of Jesus.  How we treated others in this life, especially those less fortunate,  will be brought up when we stand before God in eternity.   

 

It is time that we as Christians quit saying that we are 'right with God' when the whole world can see that we are full of hatred, lies, slander, anger, back biting, brow beating.  The Bible says they will know we are Christians by our love, and love does not harm to it's neighbor!  If a man says he loves God but hates his brother, he is a liar and the truth is not in him.  When we say we love God and then act like the devil, the whole world can see that we are a hypocrite.  It's time to get real with God! 

 

1 Corinthians 13 is called the love chapter in the bible.   It says that no matter what religious duty that we perform, if we do not truly love others from our heart, our religion is useless.   God so loved this world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life...God loved and gave his best to sinners so that they could find salvation.  Who are the sinners?  All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  We are all sinners.  That person that you make fun of and despise, that you think you are better than, well think again.  We all have fallen short of God's perfection, none of us are better than anyone else, and God expects us to love and have compassion for ALL men.   God expects us to love one another, and to give all that we can to help others turn from selfishness to God.    Are you walking in love towards ALL mankind.  If not, it's time for some old fashioned repentance.  There is JOY in giving and in loving.  Think of spending yourself on behalf of others and make this your goal in life and you will find that your joy is FULL.