How to Find True Happiness

How to Find True Happiness

by Shawn Smith

Is your emotional life wracked by feelings of little or no self-worth . . . anxiety . . . depression . . . or anger? Has your addictive behavior become so debilitating that you would just rather succumb than fight? If so, take comfort in the knowledge that you are not alone.

If this does not describe you, it probably describes someone you know and love–someone who could be helped by my book, Find Happiness, and the articles on this Website.

Experts confirm that depression has reached epidemic proportions in our society. At any given moment, up to 20 percent of the U.S. population--or fifty million people--may be experiencing some form of depression. Anyone who tries to take on the beast of depression alone, as I did, may find themselves self-medicating with drugs or alcohol. And the use of alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, and even caffeine without temperance, is likely to cause long lasting or even permanent changes to the makeup of the brain. All of these are strongholds against happiness, but you don't have to surrender to those little voices that attack you on your daily battlefield of life.

Depression can take complete control of a person’s life and, without treatment; it can affect one both emotionally and physically. I know this from personal experience, and this is a topic discussed at length in my book, Find Happiness! (see complete table of contents here). Depression causes a big change in your moods. You may cry, feel tense, upset, or easily bothered. You may not be interested in things you previously enjoyed. You may have trouble eating, concentrating, and getting things done. If you feel sad or blue, or hopeless most of the day, every day, for more than two weeks, you may have a depression that needs treatment.

Do You Sense a Void in Your Life?

Do you feel a need to be loved and accepted . . . a longing to belong? Everyone does! This ever-present, nagging feeling is another topic discussed in my book. It took me a long time to understand that God, in his infinite wisdom, created within each of his children a deep void, and he desires us to fill that void with his love. Ironically, it is our natural tendency to take and use his gift of free will to rebel against him. Through pride and arrogance, we choose to fill the void with degrading objects. As you will learn, that leads to deep despair because of our conscience.

My friends, there is only one way to the "true happiness" I talk about in my book, and that is with the transfusion of light through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Remember these words of our gracious and loving God: "But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him" (Ezekiel 18:21-22).

If we could have faith in our dear Creator and walk in the light, we could have the truth we so desperately search for. "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives" (1 John 1:5-10).

However, "walking in the light" means we have to tell Satan to shove it and then turn our back on the immoral behavior we have allowed to become so embedded in us. Furthermore, when the Father does not work in our lives, we become the selfish, spoiled little brats that this nation has lowered itself to. Then we blame him, curse him, and say he does not exist. Jesus put it bluntly in the New Testament when he said we cannot serve two masters. We have to choose sides and entrench ourselves for the fight with evil that exists in our world today.

Which Side Are You Going to Be On?

It is not a question of how and when the Lord will be victorious, but rather who will enjoy eternity in His presence and who will not. I implore you to kneel and ask Jesus Christ to forgive your sins. Ask Him for the wonderful and comforting feeling of a true relationship with the living God. Also ask Him to let the Holy Spirit help you to discern what is right, and what is the counterfeit of Lucifer. Then ask God for an understanding of what you read in the Bible and how to relate it to your everyday life.

_________

[Back to ARTICLES]