North Santa Rosa

Living With Purpose 

    A little girl admired her Daddy for many reasons. And one of them was his consistent display of happiness and positive attitudes.    “Why are you so happy all the time Daddy?” she asked.

    Realizing the teachable moment, he told her, “It’s because of Jesus! He’s the one that makes me happy. It’s because of how much he loves us!”

    “I want to be happy like that too!” she exclaimed.

    It wasn’t very long after that conversation this little girl accepted Jesus as her Savior and she became a happy Christian. It’s true, Christ makes all the difference and gives us the greatest reason to be filled with joy.

    All other things being equal, a cheerful person, who is good humored with themselves as well as with other folks, will succeed better than the one who’s selfish and down-in-the-dumps. For the Bible says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). You will not get genuine laughter or sincere smiles out of a person unless they have a cheerful heart, for the kind of laughter that makes people healthy and the kind that is longed for is the kind that springs from a truly happy person.

    The way to happiness and to enjoy its life giving energy is to pursue God and His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus’ own words were, “I have come so that you may have an abundant (joyful) life” (John 10:10). And Proverbs 15:15 reminds us, “For the happy heart; life is a continual feast.”

    If a person is selfish and they have an angry spirit within, there’s not much of anything that’ll make them happy. Usually these kind of people have trouble making friends and there’s not too many that care to spend time with someone who’s mad, full of hate, and treats others with disrespect. But if the heart of a person is high-spirited and jolly, then everyone else will get a sunny tinge from being near them and listening to their good humor.

    Have you ever noticed how different things look on a cloudy, dark day, than on a day that’s full of sunshine and warmth? The sunshine coming from the sky sparkles on the water and it makes the colors of the garden come alive with energy and brilliance. The trees and flowers actually reach upward to grab some of it themselves. So, a person’s spirit, the condition of their heart, changes the appearance of everybody and everything it comes in contact with.

    King Solomon says, “A glad heart makes a happy face” (Proverbs 15:13). And that kind of countenance is very attractive. Start your day by smiling at the first person you meet and you’ll automatically impact their behavior. A smile is the simplest and easiest way to make a positive difference in someone’s life. Give them a smile or an encouraging word and your happy spirit will make them happier as a result. This is called “spreading cheer” and it gives you the bright title of “spirit lifter”.

    Don’t think for a moment this is not important; for it is. All along through life you’ll find that the light-hearted person, whose laughter is spontaneous, gushes out of them like a fresh spring leaping out from under a rock on a hillside. These people have a great advantage in any profession, social setting, or circumstance than the person who’s negative, sour, gloomy, and selfish. Most people know a good thing when they see it. And most people can sense a positive person because they tend to build others up, rather than put people down. People give preference to the person who makes them smile over the person whose glum and makes them want to walk in the other direction.

    A man was having his picture taken and the photographer told him that if he didn’t cheer up and smile, the picture would be ugly. The man said, “When I feel ugly inside, I don’t look pretty on the outside.” But there’s a cure for this! Three simple rules, when followed, can help you get a laughing spirit. And the more of it you have and the more you use it, the better chance it will become a permanent part of your own personality. You’ll never develop it as a part of who you are until you first gain the spirit of it.

    The first step is that you get in the habit of doing the right things. If a person feels they’ve done something wrong, the wrong will haunt them and chase the smiles away. If you know you’ve done wrong, repent of it at once; ask God to forgive, and if it’s a wrong against anybody else, go straight to the person, confess your wrong, and ask forgiveness. When you’ve done everything that you can do to make it right, you’ll be astonished to notice how the load will be lifted off your heart and how happy it will be again.

    The second step is to never hold a grudge against anybody. If you were to hang a big dark blanket over a window in your home, it would keep the sunshine from entering. A grudge acts the same way. It keeps the joy and happiness from shining through a person’s life. Grudges and resentment have a powerful effect on a person’s action toward other people. The aura surrounding a person is a strong indicator of what’s in their heart. Frances Hodgson Burnett once wrote, “Where you tend a rose, a thistle cannot grow.” If anybody does you wrong, forgive them, and try to make peace with them, for that’s the way to happiness.

    The third and final rule is the surest ingredient for happiness—try to do some kind deed for someone else every day; not once a week, but everyday do something to add to their happiness. The pleasure you give them will somehow find its way back into your heart, and give you as much cheer as it does for the one whom you have been kind.

    Do right, hold no grudges against any one, and do someone a kindness. These three things are the recipe for continued happiness.

• This bi-weekly column is written by Matthew Dobson. He’s a teacher, U.S. Army Chaplain, and the Pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in the New York Community. His latest book, “Loving Others with Purpose” will be published soon! Just in time for Valentine’s Day. His other nine books can be purchased on Amazon.com and you can contact him at: rmdobson@liberty.edu.

 

Posted by on Jan 29 2017. Filed under Church News, Churches, Living With Purpose, Local, Top News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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