Blessed :: Happy

I've started studying my way through Matthew and today I found myself in Matthew 5. The Sermon on the Mount, specifically, The Beatitudes or, "The Blessings." It is said that The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus' 'standard' sermon, his 'Declaration of the Kingdom' (Guzik), if you will.

I was reading along with my usual commentary. I won't summarize the whole thing, but it was such a great study on these familiar passages.

One of the things that really stuck out to me was the meaning of the word blessed: "The idea behind the ancient Greek word for blessed is "happy," but in the truest, godly sense of the word, not in our modern sense of merely being comfortable or entertained at the moment" (Guzik).


In an earlier post I pondered joy during trials and considered the distinction between joy and happiness. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) present during strife and during blessing; and happiness is an emotion. This study in Matthew seemed to shed a little more light on the concept of happiness.


Noah Webster, in his 1828 edition of Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language, defines happy as:

The pleasurable sensations derived from the gratification of sensual appetites render a person temporarily happy; but he only can be esteemed really and permanently happy, who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God. To be in any degree happy, we must be free from pain both of body and of mind; to be very happy, we must be in the enjoyment of lively sensations of pleasure, either of body or mind.

I love that Mr. Webster includes a godly definition of happiness in his 1828 edition. He goes on to cite Bible verses that use the word in a sentence. My, how times have changed!

In Matthew 5:3-11, Jesus says that blessed (happy) is the person that exhibits the following character traits. Remember the part of Noah Webster's definition that states: "but he only can be esteemed really and permanently happy, who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God." This is the kind of happiness that Jesus is talking about.

Our founding fathers talked about this too, in our Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"

These men thought of happiness, and the endeavor to obtain it, as a right that neither law or nature could separate from a person. The founding fathers didn't tell us how to pursue happiness. They just made sure we could grow up in a country that allowed us to do so.

The passion and faith in God that brought this country together has long been swept over by many Americans. It doesn't surprise me to hear worldly definitions of what the 'pursuit of happiness' is today. A simple Internet search results in definitions such as: 'property,' 'comfortable living,' 'freedom to marry whomever' and on it goes. For some reason, our society fights with all their might to ignore God, rather than turn to Him. This fight is in the efforts of almost every evolutionist, atheist and lifestyle of sin out there. Look around and you will see, the struggle to swim upstream for our own versions of happiness. We Americans all define the path to happiness a little differently. This is probably why they didn't put a specific description in the declaration... I'm not sure they would agree on one either.

Thankfully, Jesus put a specific description in the Bible. In Matthew 5:3-11, Jesus gives us His 'Decleration of the Kingdom," and describes the pursuit of happiness. True happiness. We might think that property would make us happy, or comfortable living, good health etc. but God knows best. He made us and designed us. He knows what will really make us happy and how to help us achieve it.

Sometimes that means going through adversity, trials or discipline. During those times we can cling to the hope and joy that He provides. We also know that at the end of the trials or discipline, when we have learned the lesson and have our priorities straight, we will be happier and smarter (Ps. 119:67).

I'm not a parent, but look at any good parent and you will see that they discipline their children because they love them. God does this too (Prov. 3:12; Heb. 12:6). Parents want their kids to grow up and make good choices. Choices that will let them live and be long-term happy. They sacrifice the short-term happiness of the moment, for the long-term character traits that lead to a healthy, happy life. A 'blessed' life.

I won't go into sermon-like details of the outline for blessing/happiness: 'poor in spirit,' 'those who mourn,' 'those who hunger' etc., you can read it for yourself. Just trust me that upon deeper study, these words (and the whole Bible - the Word of Life) do reveal the path your heart should take to true happiness. Daily keeping ourselves right with God and desiring Him with all our heart, soul and mind (Matt. 22:37). Happiness because we have, as Webster put it, "peace of mind in the favor of God." We know where and in Whom we stand.

That makes me happy.