5 Keys to A Happy Life

"If we are not happy, we cannot be a testimony to others."

1.) John 14:18-20

¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

In every situation, good or bad, God never abandon us. He is always for me, in me and with me. Therefore we can be contented.

2.) Philippians 2:14

 ¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing

- Be grateful.
- STOP excusing myself, accusing others. We tend to have more grace for ourselves but strict when it comes to others.
- Focus on what is done, not what is not done.
- Give thanks, and pray.

However, in certain situations, we are allowed to voice out our opinions. Just don't over-do it.

3.) Philippians 2:15

¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”^[a] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky

We always need to keep our conscience clear so that we can be blameless and pure. The meaning of conscience is the sense of right or wrong and also self-awareness.

4.) Philippians 2:15
 
⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

Believe in God's word, and live it out. When we're not firm at holding something, it can be easily be snatched away. Same goes to reading God's word and living it out.

By reading the Bible, we can refresh and renew our mind, and what we think is what we feel, and what we feel is translated into actions.

For example, you think that your friend doesn't like you. That's a thought. You feel angry because you don't know what you have done wrong. That's a feeling. You don't want to talk to your friend anymore. That's an action.

5.) Proverbs 11:25

²⁵ A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

We serve God by serving others. Whether it's the ushers who greet every single person before the service, or the musicians who played during worship session, or even the Pastor who preaches, they look like they are serving people, but they are actually serving God. Just like how helping the homeless and the poor. By serving people, we serve God.  



Pr Eric also mentioned about how the emptiness in our hearts sometimes tend to reach out to the wrong person. Like those people who keep on changing bfs/gfs, because they can't stand being alone and they feel lonely. Therefore they have to have someone to fill up the emptiness in their hearts. If you're blessed, yes, sometimes people tend to find the right ones along the way. But it can be risky as this is the wrong intention of being in a relationship. The ones who feel lonely will leech on their partners and expect them to meet their strong emotional needs, which in return will end up with weariness and other negative emotions.

But when you're contented when you're single, there's no emptiness in your heart because you have God to fill in the empty spot. And when you're contented and happy, then only you're able to give your love to someone because by right this is the way to be in a relationship.

Then only I realised something. That I wasn't ready at all to be in a relationship last year. I never feel lonely when I'm alone, but I just wasn't ready. I tried to give, but love is a 2-way interaction. Dating someone of the different faith sometimes (most of the times) means that you won't be loved in the way you expect to be loved.

Or maybe I just wasn't strong enough to give my love. I wasn't ready to be in this situation. To be ready to face the ups and downs in the relationship, to be ready to communicate when something goes wrong, to be ready to cry angry tears, to be ready to hold on to someone so tightly and not letting go.

And dating someone who is not of the same faith means not focusing on God as the center of our relationship. 

I'm not saying that Christian couples never break up, just that it's so much different when it comes to having someone of the same faith. Choosing a partner is extremely challenging because while we have no choices to choose our parents (not to say we're forced to be their children, ehehehe), and we also don't have choices to choose who to be our children (unless you're not planning to give birth, ehehehe), we have choices to choose our partners. And they are the ones who will spend our lives together with.

We will eventually leave our parents to build our future families, our children will eventually leave us to build theirs.

Only our partners will be with us through the rest of our lives. And we have the choices.

We really won't know who will be the one whom we spend our lives with. So meanwhile let's be contented with our single lives. If you're single. Hehe.

I trust that God is always preparing us to face something bigger in our lives. If we're brave enough and trust Him enough, whatever that happens in the future, we can say that, yes Lord, I'm ready.