Can Happiness Really Be Learned? • The Habits of Happiness • Ep. 10

happiness can be learned it is a quality that you can learn there are certain qualities that if you learn them your happiness in life is going to go up exponentially if you don't have these qualities in your life your unhappiness will go up exponentially now you probably have never thought about this but if I mention it to you you automatically know what I'm talking about because you could instinctively pick out qualities that cause you to be happy and qualities that cause you to be unhappy so what we're going to do this weekend is look at four very important qualities you need to build in your life now happiness is a serious business and if you really want to be happy then you need to build these qualities in your life and the first thing that you have to learn is this you're going to have to learn write this down to shift the focus away from myself that is the starting point for all happiness I must shift the focus away from myself I have to care about more than just me I've got to care about the needs of those around me everything in culture teaches you to think about you you you you you me me me me me I I I I I and so I have to intentionally shift the focus away if I want to be happy number two the second thing you're going to need to learn to be happy is this if you want to be happy you're going to have to become someone that people trust you're going to have to become someone that people trust now it's really obvious that the more people trust you the happier you're going to be and if people don't trust you you're not going to be happy if PE if nobody trusts you you're living a pretty miserable life so here's another quality you can learn if you learn to be trustworthy you learn to be reliable you learn to be consistent you learn to be dependable and you develop that quality in your life you're going to be a whole lot happier than people who aren't worthy of trust if you want to be happy you've got to um become somebody that people trust here's the third skill that you got to learn in order to be happy in life and that is this number three learn how to work well with others and you know what they don't teach you that anymore and if parents don't teach their kids this they may not learn it in school you must learn how to work well by the way parents these are four things you need to teach your kids if you want your kids to be happy they've got to learn to switch the focus away from themselves they've got to learn to become someone that is trustworthy and they've got to learn how to work well with others what am I talking about here I'm talking about the the skill of being a team member the skill of collaboration the skill of working together if you don't know how to work with other people you're going to be unhappy uh much in your life well what do I need to learn in order to work with other people you need to learn two things the Bible says write these down first learn to cooperate I need to learn how to cooperate and that's not something you automatically do that's one of the goals of parenting is teaching your children how to share their toys teaching your children how to put away the toys together teaching your children how to cooperate often with people who are very different in personality learn to cooperate and Paul gives the second guy apatis as an example of this quality in verse 25 he says this I send back to you apatis my brother my fellow worker and my fellow Soldier Circle those three terms we're going to come back to it brother fellow worker and fellow soldier who is also your messenger whom you sent to take care of my needs remember this is the guy that that uh the church in Philippi sent with an offering a gift of money financial support to help Paul while he was in prison in Rome Paul says he's my brother my fellow worker my fellow s Soldier he's worked and fought by my side what is Paul saying here this guy knows how to be a team member this guy knows how to work in a group he's not a Lone Ranger he's not a primadana he's not a he's not a a uh a you know uh a Maverick this is a guy who knows how to work with other people now I just want to tell you real sinly the better you learn this skill the happier you're going to be in life if you don't know how to work with people different from you you're in you're in deep deep guacamole because let me tell you something most of the world is different from you and if you don't know how to work with people who are different from you then you don't you just shut yourself off to most of the world now Paul uses here in this passage three relational metaphors they they're teamwork terms and he says my brother my fellow worker and my fellow Soldier what is he saying he's saying that life and Ministry life is a family it's a fellowship it's a fight it's a family it's a fellowship and it's a fight it's family he says he calls him my brother the church is the family of God that means every one of you are related to each other if you know the Lord the people you're sitting next to are your brothers and sisters in fact for thousands of years when people went to church they used to call each other brother and sister brother so and so brother Bob sister Sue brother Tom sister Sister Janice and and you know maybe we ought to bring that back cuz we've kind of lost the attitude of We Are Family 133 times in the Bible God uses family terms to refer to the church so we're a family he says my brother then he says a fellow we're a fellowship a fellow worker we're to work together we to serve together we've been given the same tasks we we have the same Great Commission we have the same common goal we're a family we're a fellowship and we're fight he says my fellow Soldier would you agree that life's a battle would you agree that sometimes you feel like you're at War yeah and that forces are against you yeah well he says you know what it's a battle we all have the same enemy Satan and we need to support each other we need to defend each other we need to encourage each other and there's a word for that it's called small groups where do I learn to be a family a fellowship and to fight for each other in a small group you don't learn it in a big meeting like this you learn it in a small group we support we defend and we encourage each other I love what Jesus said I love this message paraphrase of one of the Beatitudes Jesus said you're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight why if you learn to cooperate with others your happiness is going to go up exponentially now not only do I need to learn to cooperate here's the second one I need to learn to be consistent considerate the more considerate you are of other people in life the happier you're going to be the more inconsiderate you are of people in your life including clerks and people who serve at fast food place the more inconsiderate you are of waiters and waitresses and people who serve you the more unhappy you're going to be when you see somebody in a restaurant being inconsiderate to a waiter or waitress at that point are they being happy no they are not they are unhappy it's because those two things don't go together and and he's saying Paul's saying you got to learn to be thoughtful you got to learn to be kind sympathetic and understanding of others and again he gives epaphroditus as an example verse 26 there in your outline he says now I must send him that's epaphroditus I'm must send him back to you because he longs to see all of you and he's been worried about your distress that's called consideration he's worried about not his distress worried about your distress since you heard that he was sick now notice in this verse we see two examples of consideration Paul is considerate of his co-worker concern he said aaas really is he's he's homesick he wants to come back home he longs to see you Paul is considered of his co-workers concern and apatis is consider it of the Philippians concern they had heard that epaphroditus on the way to Rome had gotten sick and nearly died and they were afraid their friend had died and and the Bible says in the message he he wants to get back and reassure you that he's fine this is a key to happiness the more considerate you learn to be of other people's needs other people's doubts their fears the more considerate you learn to be as a husband as a wife the happier your marriage is going to be if you are inconsiderate you're going to have an unhappy marriage Now 1 Corinthians 1:10 says this you must this is not an option you must get along with each other you must learn to be considerate circle the word learn you must learn to be considerate of one another cultivating a life in common I think every marriage ought to learn that verse we all ought to memorize that one you must learn to be considerate because you are about nature not not naturally considerate and you have to cultivate Circle that word cultivate a life in common he's saying it takes work you know I grow a garden of vegetables every year and it takes cultivation they don't just grow on their own I have to go out and prepare the soil you know break up the dirt clots I have to add in the nutrients I have to water I have to weed read I cultivate and he's saying it takes work to cultivate a life in common you know what the problem with most marriages today they' stopped working they've stopped working on the marriage so the marriage stops working when you don't work on the marriage then the marriage doesn't work that's obvious and a lot of people would rather give up on a marriage than work on a marriage he says you got to cultivate a common life together and what is it he says it's through consideration we have to be thoughtful of the effect of our words and the effect of our actions that does not come natural to Me Maybe it comes natural to you it doesn't come natural to be I don't naturally think about how my words are going to affect you or how my actions are going to affect you Paul is an example 1 Corinthians 10:33 he says I don't just do I like I don't just do what I like or what's best for me but I do what's best for everyone so that they may be saved Paul says I put the conversion of others before my comfort I put the conversion their conversion before my comfort most people look for happiness in all the wrong places you won't find it through money fame or power you'll only find real lasting Happiness by following God's commands that's why Pastor Rick created the habits of Happiness Bible study you'll discover how happiness runs deeper than any circumstance feeling or relationship it's a comprehensive study tool that will help you experience the biblical habits that lead to true and Lasting happiness because of God's unconditional love for you this Bible study is available only on daily hope and quantities are limited when you give a gift to help daily hope share the gospel with people around the world we'll send you the habits of Happiness Bible study to say [Music] thanks now there's the fourth quality if I want to be happy I've got to learn these things I've got to learn how to shift the focus away from me to others I've got to learn to become the person a person that people trust by doing what I say I do keeping my promises then I got to learn how to work well with others learning to cooperate learning to be consider it at work at home in the neighborhood whatever and that'll increase my happiness there's one one and this is a really big one if I genuinely want to be happy in life the fourth choice you need to make to be happy in life is to live for something worth dying for until you have that you will not have ultimate happiness in your life I must learn to live for something worth dying for most people are giving first class allegiance to second class causes and those causes are betraying them them I talked to one time to a guy he said I climbed the ladder of success when I got to the top I found it was leaning against the wrong wall and a lot of times we give big-time commitment to smalltime causes that aren't going to last the question you need to ask yourself that you're giv all your time all your energy all your all your thoughts whatever you think about most you're giv all your time and energy and money to these things ask how much is this going to matter 5 years from today how much is it going to matter 10 years how much matter is it going to matter in a thousand years the best use of your life is to invest it in that which outlasts it you need to live for something worth dying for and you are not ready to live you're not ready to live to really live until you know what's worth dying for if you've never figured that out you're Coast you're not really living you're existing you're not ready to live till you know what's worth dying for now Paul ends with these words about apatis verse 27 and verse 30 he says indeed talking about apodus he was very ill and he almost died he risked his life that's live for something worth dying for risked his life for the work of Christ and he was at the point of death while trying to do for me the things you you you my friends back in in Philippi couldn't do because you were far away now let me give you the background again in this Paul is in prison in Rome the Philippian church is in Greece it's 800 miles away okay the Philippian Church decides to send a care package to to Paul in prison there are no planes there are no trains there are no Automobiles and it's 800 miles and there's only one way you can get to Rome walk it's going to be an 800 mile walk to deliver this offering that the Philippians have decided to take patis a member of that church raises his head I'll do it I'll do it I'll walk 800 miles through thick and thin through robbers thieves battling armies and all kind of I'll walk 800 miles just to take a gift from our church to a guy who's in prison 800 miles away it says he risked his life the Greek there literally says he Hazard his life it's a gambling term epaphroditus is God's Godly Gambler he gambled his life for the for Jesus Christ now on this 800 mile walk to take this offering to Rome it doesn't tell us what he got what kind of disease or what Happ but he got so sick he nearly died and that's what everybody was worried about he he nearly died but in spite of persistent pain he completes his mission and he finishes what he starts now let me ask you two very personal questions for you this year 2,000 years later later here are my two questions for you what commitment have you started that you haven't yet finished what if edtis in the middle got sick and just I give up I'm going back to Philippi he wouldn't have completed his mission what commitment have you made that you need to keep maybe it's a commitment to your spouse a commitment you made to your husband a commitment you made to your wife that I'm going to do this I'm going to work on this but you haven't maybe a commitment you made to one of your children or to a friend maybe it's I don't know a commitment you made to god what have you started that you need to complete what have you begun you made a commitment to God and you need to keep that commitment you need to finish it you need to be consistent and you need to be reliable let me ask a second question is your commitment to Christ deep enough to cause you to risk your life this is why these people Timothy and apatis are so rare there aren't many people like this I mean if your church if Saddleback Church asked you to walk 800 miles to deliver a gift would you do it would you do it there are many people like this guy sure I'll do it I'll go walk any under miles to take a gift to a guy in need would you do that there aren't many people like this it's rare that's why the Bible says honor them he says you're to honor Timothy you're to honor men like this see most people say well I'll live for Christ as long as it's convenient but right now there's a good game on it excuse me most people be happy to live for Christ as long as it's convenient and it's comfortable are you willing to live for Christ at work when it's inconvenient and it's uncomfortable well no then you're not much of a Christian this is why God says honor people like this God says honor those who who take risks sharing the gospel God is not finished testing your faith so get ready you think God's going to let you just Coast the rest of your life really you think God's going to say oh all of the big risks in your life are behind you now are you kidding me as long as you're alive God's going to keep testing you with risky decisions for his sake to test your faith God is going to call you to be a part in some way to play some role of what he wants to do through this church I I'm absolutely certain of it or he wouldn't have called you here and all I'm asking you to do is to pray this week say God the most dangerous prayer in the world remember it's two words use me I dare you to pray the most dangerous prayer in the world use me I'm afraid to pray that pray it use me because it is the secret of happiness happiness you don't know really how to live until you know what's worth dying for I want you to write this down the last thing you write down happiness comes from putting service before security happiness comes from putting service before security God blesses those who serve him even when it's inconvenient and uncomfortable happiness comes from putting service before security not doing the safe thing but doing the thing that stretches your faith and if you say God use me he'll figure out what that is for you and he'll let you know now we'll end with Jesus Secret Of Happiness which sums up what we've looked at this weekend Mark 8:35 Jesus said this only those who give away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the good news will ever know what it means to really live only those who give away their lives live for something worth dying for for my sake and for the sake of the good news will ever know what it means to really live you're just existing until you have a purpose greater than yourself to get out of bed for in the morning now let me summarize the happiest people in Earth are caring consistent Cooperative considerate and courageous it's what we just looked at they're caring they get the focus off themselves they're consistent they learn to be trustworthy they're cooperative and considerate they know how to work with other people on a team and they're courageous they're willing to take risks in faith let's bow our heads if you want to be happy I invite you to pray this prayer with me dear God I want to be like these guys I want to learn to be happy I realize that happiness isn't a matter of luck it's a matter of learning that I can choose to be happy I can make decisions to be happy I can develop character that will make me happy so help me to get the focus off myself Lord I'm really sick and tired of looking at me help me to become somebody that people can trust reliable dependable trustworthy help me to do what I say I do help me to keep my promises and Lord I need to learn how to get along better with others I need to learn how to cooperate and I learn need to learn how to be considerate I need to learn how to be a team member how to work with people who are different from me I want to be like Paul who said I don't just do what's best for me what's best for everybody if you're married say Lord help me to to cultivate a life in common with my spouse say Lord help me to learn to be considerate of my spouse and my kids and Lord help me to live for something worth dying for I I'm going to pray the most dangerous prayer right now Lord use me I don't know what that means but I'm open and I trust that you'll show me what you want to do in my life that will stretch my faith use me the way you plan not the way somebody else planned but your plan if you've never invited Jesus Christ in your life say Jesus Christ come into my life and save me and forgive my sin change me make me the person you want me to be father I thank you for these whove prayed this prayer today we know that Holiness leads to happiness that happiness actually comes from Holiness and as we become more like you we become more happy I pray a blessing on every person here that whatever you've called us to do we will do whatever commitments we will we've made we will keep and I pray this blessing in the name of the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit amen most people look for happiness in all the wrong places you won't find it through money fame or power you'll only find real lasting Happiness by following God's commands mans that's why Pastor Rick created the habits of Happiness Bible study you'll discover how happiness runs deeper than any circumstance feeling or relationship it's a comprehensive study tool that will help you experience the biblical habits that lead to true and Lasting happiness because of God's unconditional love for you this Bible study is available only on daily hope and quantities are limited when you give a gift to help daily hope share the gospel with people around the world we'll send you the habits of Happiness Bible study to say [Music] [Music] thanks [Music]

Channel: Pastor Rick

Views: 6,124

Keywords: Pastor Rick Warren, Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, Pastor Rick, Rick Warren sermon, Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, Saddleback, christianity, church, church sermon

Id: uGzYvVHPsX4

Length: 27min 19sec (1639 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 03 2023