The Path to Happiness
Transcript:
Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!
I’m going to let you in on a secret, though it is no secret at all. But I suppose it is a secret in the sense that our hearts do not readily see it, let alone grasp it. If you want to be a happy person, you need first to be a humble person.
The Book of James says that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). The Psalms tell us: “For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).
Do you want to know, experientially, the grace of God in your life and the happiness that comes from it? Then, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.
Now, what does this mean, practically speaking. To humble yourself before God requires you to humble yourself before His people. This means being one who:
- Admits their faults.
- Apologizes for their offenses.
- Speaks positively about others.
- Serves others.
- Thinks of others more than themselves, and…
- Takes the posture of a learner/disciple in God’s family.
Humility is the inner demeanor of the true saint, and, practically speaking, it is one of the chief reasons why the saints are blessed or happy people. Are you?
Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.
“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”
~James 4:6-12 (ESV)