Happiness, comfort, love, satisfaction... these are all things that everyone has longed for at one point in their lives or another. If someone asked if these words were negative or positive, the most likely answer would be positive, but there are times when pursuing these feelings can be wrong.
Sometimes the pursuit of happiness can quickly become twisted into the confusion of pursuing selfish desires. Really, true joy is only found in seeking God in all that we do, or pursue.
16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
James 3:16 New International Version (NIV)
A Catholic priest taught me the JOY acronym, years ago now, and it is something that I always try to keep at the forefront of my memory. We need balance in our life, one of the ways to do this is to keep our priorities straight. A Christian may say that the most important things to do in life is to follow the course that Jesus set out for us in living a life full of love and compassion that is pleasing to God. We need to love others, and we need to love ourselves, for confidence, strength, and integrity. For this reason the JOY acronym seems to feed us the proper balance, by setting our priorities in a particular order.
JESUS
OTHERS
YOURSELF
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Philippians 2:3-4 New International Version (NIV)
It is like what Jeremy Bentham was onto when he created a discourse on the foundation of morals and legislation, he spoke about looking for the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Apart from his theory those who love the lord may agree that surely the only way to do this is to live the way that God intended us to live. God wants the greatest good for the greatest number of people. He wants our lives to be enriched with the best balance.
...What if you had someone who knew the history of the world, who saw everything, knew everything, and designed everyone and everything?
–Well, luckily we do! We don't have to depend on ourselves.
18 An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgement starts quarrels.
Proverbs 18 New International Version (NIV)
