We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
Happy vs. Holy
Rebecca Tekautz wrote a reflection on Relevant Online Magazine regarding the stark difference between pursuing happiness versus pursuing holiness. We’ve been conditioned by a consumeristic society to seek our own happiness above all else, and sometimes we fail to see how this collides with our call to pursue the life that Jesus has called us to. Happiness and holiness are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but it matters very much where your priorities and focus lie. And when we talk about pursuing holiness, let’s be clear that we’re talking about pursuing Jesus, not good behavior.
From the article:
I feel a little helpless, sitting back and watching as this adherence to happiness infects the Church like poison. Slowly, and sometimes silently, it seeps into our thoughts, our prayers, our relationships. We are drug addicts, endlessly searching for our latest fix. The moment the effects of our latest hit of happiness have worn off, we are in pursuit of the next. We cannot stop and sit in our pain, disappointment or emptiness.
Happiness is our idol. Why are we not pursuing holiness with the same passion with which we are pursuing happiness? How have we come to allow ourselves to put more trust in a fleeting emotion than in a God who says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness … Blessed are the poor in spirit … Blessed are those who mourn”?
Image by Electra Owens. Sourced via Flickr.
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom Living
Related Reading
Is America God’s Favored Nation?
Bart via Compfight Is money a sign of God’s blessing? If so then the more you have the more blessed of God you are. If a church has more money, then more of God’s favor is on it. If a country is wealthy, then we can claim God’s favored status. But is this the way…
The Coming Kingdom & Racial Conflict
In the book of Revelation, we see a glimpse into the future. John says he saw, …a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And…
Friday Lights: Living the Best Day Ever
Each Friday we post content sent to us by our readers that is inspiring, funny, lighthearted or just generally fun. If you’d like more information on submitting content for this feature you can get more information here. Today’s post comes to us from Brandon Andress. This is a post from last December from his website. Very inspiring.…
Everybody’s Got a Prequel
My wife and I, along with some friends, recently attended the Broadway Play Wicked. Without giving too much away, I’ll tell you the play attempts to answer the question: What could have possibly made the “Wicked Witch of the West” so [apparently] evil (as presented in the original Wizard of Oz)? After all, normal young…
Did Jesus Instruct Us to Arm Ourselves?
Over the past few posts, I’ve been dealing with the passages that are frequently used to argue how Jesus condoned violence. One of these takes place just after the last supper and just before Jesus and his disciples were going to travel to the Mount of Olives to pray. To prepare his disciples, Jesus tells them;…
The Kingdom of God While Mowing the Lawn
The Kingdom of God is first and foremost characterized by the kind of love Jesus demonstrated on Calvary and throughout his life. Everything we do, Paul says, is to be done in love (1 Cor. 16:14). Love is the only thing that ultimately matters (Gal. 5:6; cf. I Cor. 13:1-3). As our lives become a…