The Secret to a Happy Life

Mae was lost in thought as she helped her mother put away the dishes. "A penny for your thoughts," said Mom, nudging her."They're worth much more than that!" Mae said with a grin. "But since you're my mom, I'll give them to you for free. I was thinking of something my teacher said this morning at church. She said the only way for us--for Christians--to be really happy is to do what God wants us to do instead of doing what we want." Mae paused. "It doesn't make sense. How can we be happy if we're always doing things we don't want to do?""I agree that if the Christian life was just a matter of forcing ourselves to do unpleasant things, it certainly wouldn't be very enjoyable," said Mom. "But what makes you think you wouldn't want to do what God asks of you?"Mae shrugged. "Well, if I'm doing what He asks instead of what I want, that means I don't really want to do what He tells me to, doesn't it?""Let's think about that," Mom said. "When you came home from school today, what did you do?""I went next door and helped Mrs. Grimes wash windows," Mae replied."You've never really liked washing windows, so were you miserable doing that?" asked Mom.Mae shook her head. "No. I really like Mrs. Grimes. I did it because I was glad to help her, not because I had to. I actually really enjoyed it!" "In other words, you helped her out of love," Mom explained. "That's the real secret of a happy Christian life. If we try to serve God out of a sense of duty, we'll just feel like we're giving up the things we want to do. But when we look to Jesus as our source of joy and contentment, we can serve Him out of love and gratitude. That's what makes the difference! When we remember that His Spirit is working in us, making our desires look more like His, we can feel joy as He leads us in serving Him and showing His love to others."Mae nodded thoughtfully. "Jesus loves me and died for me, and He fills me with joy every day. I want to serve Him out of love for everything He's done for me." -Sherry L. Kuyt