To Get Happiness, Give Your Life Away
By Rick Warren
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21 (NIV)
Happiness comes from serving and giving your life away. Until you understand this, you’re going to struggle to be happy in your life. Happiness comes from self-sacrifice, not self-gratification.
The Apostle Paul could say that he was happy because, even in the dark times of his life, he was giving his life away to help others.
Can you say that about your life? You’ll never be able to say that when you are living for yourself, because you’ll never find happiness in status or salary or sex.
Paul knew that to be happy, he had to stay focused on his purpose and not his problems. He sums up his purpose in Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (NIV).
If you were asked to fill in the blank, what word would you use? “For me, to live is ______.” Would it be entertainment? Sports? Clothes? Family? Friends? A career? You could fill in that blank with a lot of things that are not bad, things that are good in and of themselves. But nothing deserves the place of the One who created you and gave you your life: Jesus Christ.
How you fill in that blank will determine how happy you are in life. If you answer “money” or “success” or “pleasure” or “power,” you are going to be unhappy for most of your life. The issue isn’t whether there’s something wrong with those things; they just don’t deserve first place.
You weren’t created to make a bunch of money, then die and have it given away. God has a far greater purpose for your life.
There is only one answer that leads to happiness: To live is Christ.
To get the life you really want, give your life away.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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