I remember being a young child, knowing that my happiness and true fulfillment was only one or two Star wars action figures away. My friend Mark had a large collection and so did my cousin Tyler, they both seemed happier because of this, I admit, I envied them for it.

When I was a bit older I remember wanting a motorcycle desperately. Surely that would be the fulfillment of my every dream and I would be happy, and how happy I was the day that I got it. However, the luster of my longed for dream was short lived and my hopes were dashed with the reality of vanity.

It would not end there, there would be Nintendo, guns, cars, girls, my own apartment, popularity, that great job, and yes of course, money. With high hopes and self assurance that these things would make me happy, I worked hard for each thing only to find that none of these things brought lasting fulfillment or happiness to my life. In fact, I found that many times the opposite would result. Oftentimes, I did things that brought guilt and shame into my life in my pursuit of pleasure that I believed would result in happiness.

Is true lasting happiness available, and is it possible to attain it through the acquisition of wealth, popularity or pleasurable experience? I think in order to answer that question we need look no further than Hollywood, for these folks have all of these things in abundance. Looking amongst them, I would venture to say that you will not find the happiest person in the world, yet you may find the most depressed. They smile nice for the cameras but to read of the tragedy of their personal lives is somber and devastating.

So where do you find the happy people of the earth? In the bible, the 5^th Chapter of the book of Matthew, we find a section of scripture commonly known as the beatitudes. Nine times in the passage the word blessed appears, which simply means, ‘oh how happy’ or ‘full of Joy’. The difficult thing is that Jesus never says, “oh how happy is the guy with the most toys, or the guy who everyone looks up to, or the guy with the most pleasure.” On the contrary Jesus calls the person happy who is poor in spirit, mourning, those who desire righteousness, are meek, shows mercy, are pure in heart, are peacemakers and finally those who are persecuted for doing the right thing or following Jesus.

Through observation and the experiences of my own life and those around me, I have found that none of the qualities that Jesus calls blessed are natural to mankind. Nor does anyone see a need for them or desire them until they have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ Himself. Before I was a Christian it always shocked me that someone could go to Africa or India and live in a village, giving up all American wealth and luxury to tell people about this Jesus. And yet, every one of them, I ever had the privilege of meeting, had such a peace about them, such a joy and such happiness. I thought to myself, maybe it is the work that they do, but then every once in a while I would run into another Christian with the same joy and happiness, really a love for life and those around them. I didn’t believe that it could be religion, because from my experience most religious people were not happy. So, what was their key to happiness?

It is only when I came to a place of despair, feeling empty inside and being weighed down with shame and guilt from all the things I had done, that I decided to ask Jesus to forgive all of my sin, by believing that he took the punishment for my sin when He died on the Cross, that He was buried and that He rose the third day conquering death and the grave giving all who believe in Him eternal life. On the day I gave my life to Jesus and the weeks to follow, I had peace, joy, and a feeling of being cleansed. All of my sin was forgiven and the guilt and shame of sin was gone.

Now, it is true that most people experience this when they surrender their life to Jesus, but after time some continue to be weighed down with sorrow, shame, guilt and sin. What is the reason for an un-victorious Christian life? Most likely because though they accepted Jesus they still believe that true happiness comes from the possession of things, the acquiring of wealth and/or popularity.

I have found through my own struggles that the only thing in life that brings true fulfillment and lasting happiness is to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is through this relationship and time spent in His presence that I realize how spiritually bankrupt I am, I mourn over my sin, He makes me to hunger and thirst to live right before Him, He gives me self control which produces meekness, desiring His mercy I become more merciful, He puts in my heart to share His gospel of peace, He purifies me as I confess my sin before Him, and because He changed my life, from time to time I get persecuted for loving and following Him. Yet all the while I am filled with happiness, and I am thrilled that I have been counted worthy to suffer for Him.

I wouldn’t say that it is those things in Matthew 5 verses 3-12 that make me happy in and of themselves, but rather it is the time I spend with Jesus that makes me complete in life. Psalm 16:11 Says “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (NKJV)

If you have found life to be unfulfilling, it may just be that you have forgotten, or missed what you were created for in the first place. I encourage you to turn your back on sin, ask God to forgive you based upon your belief in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross and begin to draw close to God.

Matt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in Spirit”

Remember to add a star if you liked the article. Blessings to you!

In His grace,

Mike