You don’t have to choose between joy and happiness. In Jesus, you can find deep, lasting happiness your heart has always longed for.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada. Some Christians go to great pains to separate the word “joy” from “happiness.” Joy is a gift of the Spirit, and happiness they say is a knee-jerk response to things that tickle your fancy. But the Bible does not split such fine hairs. Psalm 40:16 says, “But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.” Scripture uses the terms interchangeably along with words like delight, gladness, and blessed. There is no scale of relative spiritual values applied to any of these. Happiness is not relegated to fleshly-minded sinners nor joy to heaven-bound saints. Besides, if we say the Gospel won’t bring happiness, any perceptive listener would respond, “Then how is that good news?” Let’s redeem the word happiness in light of Scripture and church history. Our message should not be “Don’t seek happiness,” but “You’ll find in Jesus the happiness you’ve always longed for.”
© Joni and Friends