This post first appeared on Power in the Book of Mormon.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you today? How about the past week? The past year? Or overall? Would you (and those around you) consider you to be a generally happy person overall? Maybe youβre just not a βhappyβ kind of person. Maybe youβre not a total grump, but maybe on the overall personality spectrum, youβre a bit closer to the Mr. Grinch end than the Relief Society President end. Maybe youβre holding out hope that you would be eventually happy. You know, once your sons have returned from their missions. And your quorum takes their ministering assignments seriously. And your husband stops leaving the toilet seat up. Or maybe youβre just enduring life right now and looking forward to that day of release when you will finally be able to rest in eternal felicity in heaven because sure then you will be happy, right?
If youβre not a happy person in this life, I have some more bad news. Or rather, Mormon has some bad news. When speaking about the Final Judgment, when all is said and done, he taught:
Then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still.
β Mormon 9:14
To be fair, in context it looks like Mormon is referring more to the unhappiness of sin than a case of the βhigh priest grumps.β But I think the principle is important. Who we are inside is not going to be erased and replaced with someone else in the Resurrection. If one hair of our head is not going to be lost, why would one iota of our personality be lost? If we are not a happy person now, we canβt expect that we will just be made into a happy person then.
Fortunately, we are given a lot of help. First off, God teaches us that our happiness is actually our whole purpose. As in the mission statement for all of humanity. As in, βmen are that they might have joyβ (well, alright, if you insist!)
Not only is it our puspose, but it is the purpose of the Church. Pres. Pack taught, βThe ultimate purpose of every teaching, every activity in the Church is that parents and their children are happy at homeβ (I find that quote especially powerful with the upcoming adjustment in meeting schedules and the home-centered curriculum).
Finally, it is the purpose of God Himself: βFor behold, this is my work and my gloryβ to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.β What is eternal life? The kind of life God lives, full of everlasting happiness.
Godβs purpose is our happiness, the Churchβs purpose is our happiness, and our whole existence is about our happiness. Seems kind of a self-centered doctrine, doesnβt it? Isnβt that exactly the kind of attitude and philosophy that weβre supposed to avoid? The idea that anything goes just as long as it makes you happy? Also, how can God command us to be happy while at the same time making us pass through the afflictions and disappointments in life? I thought all that painful stuff was a crucial part of the plan?
True, true. I think the answer is that we as a society have corrupted and twisted the definition of the word happiness. When God says our purpose is to be happy, itβs clear heβs not talking about adopting hedonism. He did not say βmen are that they might have pleasure.β He said we are to have βjoy.β Joy is the happiness that lasts. The happiness that endures into eternity. The happiness that is selfless, that persists in all conditions. Joy is the happiness that fills the immortal, resurrected Christ and causes Him to weep.
God wants that joy for us. And the cool thing is that joy is not something reserved just for the eternities. It is something available to us nowβ todayβ as we develop the confidence that we are walking in the covenant path and God is pleased with our efforts. Elder Klebingat promised:
No matter what your current status, the very moment you voluntarily choose honest, joyful, daily repentance by striving to simply do and be your very best, the Saviorβs Atonement envelops and follows you, as it were, wherever you go. Living in this manner, you can truly βalways retain a remission of your sinsβ (Mosiah 4:12) every hour of every day, every second of every minute, and thus be fully clean and acceptable before God all the time.
Yours is the privilege, if you want it, to come to know for yourself, today or soon, that you are pleasing God in spite of your shortcomings⦠I testify of a loving Savior who rejoices when we apply His Atonement daily with the calm and happy assurance that we are facing in the right direction.
β Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence
So whatβs our part in this? To make sure nothing stands in the way of our joy. To maintain an eternal perspective and, in the words of President Monson, βfind joy in the journeyβ¦ now!β
This post first appeared on Power in the Book of Mormon.
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