Happy or Holy?

In Leviticus 11, God was speaking to Aaron and Moses, giving them the Law as it applied to the Israelites. In verse 44, God said “Be happy, for I am happy.” Ok, put down those stones you’re ready to throw at me right now. I realize that is NOT what the scripture says. Americans are obsessed with the pursuit of happiness, and sometimes it can achieve the opposite result. I’ve often heard it said “Do whatever makes you happy.” Happiness can be fleeting and lead to future difficulties. What is the relationship between holy and happy? Is the pursuit of happiness a valid objective? Let’s look at some terms often used in this discussion.

Happiness I fear that the pursuit of happiness is where it ends for many of us. Is  this the right person for me to marry? Will I be happy if I accept this job offer? Will getting a pet make me happy? Will I be happy if I buy that new car I’ve had my eyes on? The problem with these pursuits is that they may make us happy for a while but questions arise. Happiness can be temporary and leave us with an empty feeling and can end up not being good. Happiness is what I would rate as low on the scale of positive emotions. 

Blessed A similar word is blessed, which we see in many translations of the Beatitudes. This word is sometimes translated as happy but I think “blessed” is a better fit as it indicates that God will bestow blessings on the person having the characteristic included in a particular beatitude. Blessed means to be made holy, Becoming blessed can be a step toward our holiness. Again, this word is frequently misused. Frequently when something good happens (that makes me happy) I claim that I am blessed. If I get ahead in the business world through shady or illegal means and become wealthy, you can be assured that is not God’s blessing on you.

Joy The dictionary defines joy as a feeling of pleasure or great happiness. From a non-spiritual view this seems to place joy a step above happiness. But joy from a scriptural view indicates that there is more. Biblical joy is a lasting emotion that comes from the choice to trust that God will fulfill His promises. Beyond that, joy is a deep-rooted, inspired happiness. 

In addition, joy is listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Joy is described by author Glory Dy as internal, selfless, a spiritual connection with God, and purely  good. When we achieve joy our focus turns outward. Rick Warren defined joy as “the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”  It is the natural reaction to the work of God, whether promised or fulfilled. Joy expresses God’s kingdom—His influence on earth. To attain joy we must receive Christ, follow Him and His teachings.

Holy All of these can be good things to have in our lives. But we need to bring this back to where we started. To properly quote Leviticus 11:44 we read “Be holy, for I am holy.”  So how do we achieve holiness? At first it may seem impossible as Revelation 15:4, in speaking of God, reads “For you alone are holy.” Yet Hebrews 12:14 reads “without holiness no one will see the Lord” So holiness is a requirement for a Christian. God’s holiness is His nature. How can we be holy? Our holiness is a holiness derived from God. We become holy when we come in contact with the Source of holiness, the Holy God. This explains why the ground surrounding the burning bush was called “holy ground.” God’s presence turned common, ordinary ground into holy ground. The same is true of us. In order for a person to be holy, he or she must be connected to the source of holiness – that source is God Himself. Common human beings become holy through God.

We can have happiness in our lives, we can be blessed by God, we can have lasting joy in our lives but our ultimate goal is to be made holy in God’s image.

_________________

To learn more about a new life in Christ, click here.

Photo credit for Happy to Stockcake

All scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise indicated.