Posted on 10/07/2015 7:26:27 AM PDT by Salvation
...“God wants me to be happy” is not a legitimate moral principle. It bespeaks a narcissism that is, sadly, too common today.
In the comments:
Msgr. Charles Pope says:
Note to Readers – This critique of the “God wants me to be happy” movement is not set forth by me as an absolute refutation of happiness as a goal or of what St. Thomas calls “Beatitude” The pursuit of happiness is a universal human quest. But there is such a thing as true happiness offered by God and the false notions of the world which amounts fundamentally to a rejection of the cross and the summons to truth. The more obnoxious aspect of course is that God wants ME to be happy. “ME” being grasped in isolation to anyone or anything else.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
They are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but they do not mean the same thing.
This one s backwards.
The topic is selfishness, not happiness.
God does want us to be happy. And joyful.
Being happy has nothing to do with fulfilling selfish desires.
No.
God wants me to be holy. Happiness, or joy, may well follow from that. But the goal is eternal joy with God in Heaven, not earthly happiness.
The Joel Olsteen syndrome and the prosperity gospel.
Your "happy" is self gratification. You really think that's what life is about?
Two things:
The words, ‘pursuit of happiness’, does not have ‘an end clause’, therefore you are always in pursuit, and never at the goal.
The ‘G_d wants me happy’ theorem was really poured out upon the people by the Pentecostal movement, starting in the 1980’s, as witnessed by myself, in a NY megachurch.
IF, now hear me out, G_d WANTS you to be happy, why would he allow you to bruise your knee, fall on your, ahem, face, lose your job, lose a family member?
IF, you gits ‘unhappy’, in any of that, where are you supposed to go to GIT happy?
IF, you know that this is an imperfect world, and all of your ventures begin from the word ‘no’, there is not much that can git you down in the dumps and unhappy.
The Apostle Paul lived a very harsh life and paid the ultimate price for it. IMHO he was depressed (the thorn he wished God to remove from him 2 Corinthians 2:12-7-9) for most of his ministry.
This world is not about our happiness and it will never be about our happiness.
Jesus should be everybody’s focus—like Peter sinking in the water when he lost focus trying to walk it, once he kept his eyes on Christ he made it.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m a hypocrite trying to do this.
Good Message!
True happiness comes from following God and pleasing Him. Deviancy isn’t pleasing to God.
God never said things wouldn’t be hard. Just the opposite, in fact.
He said that things would be hard if we followed Him, but He promised that He would make sure the burden would not be too much for us to bear. He can’t help us bear the burden, though, if we are too afraid or lazy to pick it up.
“Being happy has nothing to do with fulfilling selfish desires.”
Sure it does, when people are using the pursuit of happiness as their excuse for fulfilling those selfish desires.
God wants us to be obedient, from which flows Joy, not happiness...
Happiness is a moment in time based on emotion...
No wonder liberals are so screwed up....
Yup...spot on...
True.
One key I have found to staving off unhappiness is to remember to be thankful. I’ve found it is nearly impossible to be thankful to God and depressed at the same time. Our brains just can’t juggle both of those things at once!
Here is a good Joel Osteen quote I wrote down that illustrates this nonsense. ‘I want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we are not doing it for God-I mean that is one way of looking at it-we are doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we are happy. That is the thing that gives him the greatest joy.
Just do good for yourself. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship him, you are not doing it for God really. Your are doing it for yourself because that is what makes God happy.’ Looks like some scripture twisting to me.
GOD wants us to be OBEDIENT; then we will be happy.
LUKE 11:28
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
JOHN 8:51
Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
JOHN 14:23
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
JOHN 15:14
You are my friends if you do what I command.
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