Choose Holiness over Happiness
By Rick Warren
“We are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:14-15 (GNT)
Today we live in an age of irresponsibility, where few people want to admit that their problems are their own fault. We’ve become a victim culture. I’m speaking generally, but it seems like people never think a problem is their fault; somebody else is always to blame.
We blame others. We blame the government and the media. We blame our parents and our DNA. We blame our schools and the environment—everything but ourselves.
The truth is, we bring most of our problems on ourselves. We just need to accept responsibility and quit blaming others. Every time we blame somebody else, we’re not admitting what the real problem is.
If you’re facing temptation right now, you’re never going to find freedom until you stop fixing the blame and start fixing the problem. Stop blaming other people! Even when other people have hurt you, it’s your reaction that’s causing the problem.
It’s amazing to me that some people even try to blame God for the messes in their lives.
One of the most common excuses I’ve heard to justify a multitude of sins is, “God wants me to be happy, and this will make me happy.”
But God’s will never contradicts God’s Word. If God says, “Don’t do that” in the Bible, he will never tell you “yes” through a feeling. I don’t care how good the feeling is—when you listen to your feelings instead of God’s Word, you’re walking straight into a trap.
God wants you to be holy more than he wants you to be happy. He wants you to obey him. And the truth is, you will never be totally happy when you ignore God’s will. In fact, you’re heading for destruction when you do that. The rules and principles in the Bible are not there to make life miserable. They’re there for our own good.
The happiest people in the world are those who hang on to what God says and follow it, regardless of what their feelings are telling them to do.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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