God doesn’t just want us to be holy; He wants us to be happy. Author Randy Alcorn, author of  , looks at how we can pursue happiness in the Christian life.

How do we pursue happiness in the right way?

“The first thing we do is recognize that God is happy Himself and wants us to be happy.”

We can learn the true definition of happiness by studying the word of God.

“Many Christians don’t ever understand the meaning of the happiness of God. When you do a study on the attributes of God, very rarely is the happiness of God one of the attributes that is studied.

“The old saints called it the ‘Blessedness of God,’ which actually meant the happiness of God. You still see theologies today where the first line will always say, ‘The blessedness of God means the happiness of God.’”

So why don’t we call it the ‘happiness of God,’ instead?

“That’s one of the funny things about it, the word ‘blessed’ used to mean happy. In Psalm 1:1, ‘Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly.’ It means happy. Likewise in the beatitudes, ‘Blessed that are the peacemakers,’ well that’s ‘happy are the peacemakers.’”

Randy says that by perceiving the word ‘blessed’ as more of a holiness word, it prevents us from seeing God’s true happiness throughout scripture.

“So the accurate translation would be: God is the happy God; the God who delights in his children, God who delights in himself, the Father delights in the son, ‘This is my son the beloved one and whom I am well pleased.’”

God is a happy God and if we come to grips with God’s own happiness, then we’ll feel like its Godly to be happy; instead of thinking God’s always miserable and unhappy and angry all the time, therefore if I’m happy it would not be Christ like.”

Although Jesus is called a man of great sorrows, he was also a man of great happiness.

“Jesus, yes, is called a man of sorrows but where is he called that? In Isaiah 53 when he’s doing his redemptive work, ‘Pierced for our transgressions bruise for our iniquities.’  He was experiencing sorrow then, but was Jesus a man of sorrows every day of his life on Earth?”

Randy reveals Jesus’ happiness to us in Hebrews 1:9.

“He was also a man of happiness and joy and Hebrews 1 tells as that ‘Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness beyond all his companions.’ I believe that means beyond all the human race. Jesus is the happiest person who ever lived.”

It’s not wrong to pursue happiness as a Christian, as long as we pursue our happiness in Christ.

Highlight: How the bible defines happiness

The source of happiness