I’ve written about this before in Holiness and Happiness, but upon reading a devotional this morning, I don’t think I spent enough time emphasizing an important part in that blog post. Yes God cares more about your holiness than your happiness, but God has designed us to be happy with holiness.
In Leviticus 19:2, 20:7, and 1 Peter 1:16, God says to be holy because He is holy. In each of these references the command for holiness is given in the context of keeping God’s other commandments.
In John 15:10-11 we see Jesus teaching about joy, again in the context of keeping God’s commandments. He also speaks of God’s love, of abiding in Him, of loving God, and of loving others.
So we see the instructions, commandments, and attitudes that God tells us to do, to keep, and to have are things that make us both holy and happy. Both holiness and happiness come from God loving us, from us loving God, from our wholehearted obedience to God, from just being with God and spending time with Him, and from loving others. While life won’t always be easy and won’t always be pleasurable, God is always with us and in us. We can have happiness in the midst of difficult times and holiness in the midst of depravity around us.
God designed holiness and happiness to completely go together!