Habit Of HappinessSample

For Happiness, Give Your Life Away

Happiness comes from service and giving your life away. Until you understand this, you’re not going to be happy for much of your life. Happiness does not come from self-gratification. It comes from self-sacrifice.

Paul knew that to be happy, he had to stay focused on his purpose and not his problems. He summed 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? There could be a lot of good things you could answer, 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. Because if you answer “money” or “success” or “pleasure” or “power,” you are going to be unhappy for most of your life. There’s nothing wrong with those things; they just don’t deserve first place. You weren’t created to make a bunch of money, then die, and give it away. God has a far greater purpose for your life. There is only one answer that leads to happiness: to live is Christ. Give your life away. It is your purpose!


This devotional © 2014 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.