HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE. Remember that the 'heart' in the Bible is not the emotions but rather our trusts and attitudes. The happy heart, we are told, is the discerning heart, filled with wise convictions and commitments. These verses are telling us that the wise heart leads to cheerful emotions, and the foolish heart to crushed emotions. The principle is a subtle one but important. It means, ultimately, that happiness is a choice. Our thoughts and attitudes....not our circumstances, are decisive.
We are not talking here about mere stoicism, a simple clamping down of emotions through willpower. The heart consists of the attitudes and stances towards life. We can choose to reflect with our mind and to fire our imagination through art, singing and worship---all so that the truths of realities of God and his grace and promises fill our view.
PRAYER Lord, I am so, so spiritually weak, that in order to live the life I should, I need both a mind convinced by solid arguments and an imagination fired with the beauty of your character and story of salvation. Show me how to bring both into my life. Amen.Excerpt from Timothy and Kathy Keller's God's Wisdom for Navigating Life, page 113.
BELOW, Contradicting a culture of self and selfishness:
UPDATE---Maureen Dowd: Obama thinks he was 'too good' for America
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