The pursuit of happiness is one of the "rights" outlined in the Declaration of Independence. It's a concept that permeates our culture even today - pursue happiness...search for and find what makes you happy. But is being happy truly the goal in life? Is that what God wants for me? To just make sure that I'm happy? Scripture seems to indicate that God calls us to choose something even greater than happiness. God calls us to choose joy. But aren't joy and happiness the same thing? If they're not, how do I know the difference? And how do I make sure that I'm moving beyond pursuing happiness to taking hold of joy?
Anger. Fear. Joy. Sadness. We all have different feelings that we deal with on a daily basis. God has given us the gift of emotions to help us process and react to things that we experience. Sometimes we have a healthy emotional response to certain situations, and sometimes our emotions get the best of us. For the next few weeks at Flagstone we are going to discover how to get a better handle on our emotions and use them for God’s purposes.
