we are looking at the first attitude for happiness that JESUS shared in the beginning of HIS 1st sermon. it’s matthew 5.3 (ms), you're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. with less of you there is more of GOD and HIS rule.
that is an interesting picture isn’t it? it’s hard to imagine being happy when you’ve blown whatever you were doing and admit that you are at the end of your rope. but HE goes on to say that with less of you there is more of GOD and HIS rule. what HE is talking about is the attitude of humility, of dependence on GOD.
you might ask, humility, how can that increase my happiness?
well it reduces stress. when i'm humble i don't have to fake it or pretend that i'm perfect. it relieves so much stress to know that GOD doesn't demand that i be perfect in order to be happy. i don't have to play GOD and assume responsibility that's not mine.
when i'm humble i can live with the tension between the real and the ideal – the way i want to live my life, the way i want my career to go, the ideal for my family, my marriage, my kids and then reality, the way it really is.
and there is always a tension in life between the ideal and the real. and humility accepts the fact that you can be happy because you're depending upon GOD even though things aren't ideal. you may not have the best job and your marriage may not be perfect but you can be happy.
i'm convinced that we take ourselves way too seriously and we don't take GOD seriously enough. i think that is the crux of almost every one of our problems.
we're out there trying to impress people with who we are and because we know who we really are and who we want to be there's stress. but when i become a humble person, when i walk in dependence upon the LORD, it reduces the stress in my life. and as the stress goes down the happiness goes up.
just a thought from the front porch…
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