To Get Happiness, Give Your Life Away

In Philippians 1:21 I read, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (NIV)

I’m learning that happiness comes from serving and giving my life away. Until I understand this, I’m going to struggle to be happy in my life. Happiness comes from self-sacrifice, not self-gratification. 

The Apostle Paul could say that he was happy because, even in the dark times of his life, he was giving his life away to help others.

Can I say that about my life? I’ll never be able to say that when I am living for myself, because I’ll never find happiness in status or salary or sex. 

Paul knew that to be happy, he had to stay focused on his purpose and not his problems. He sums up his purpose in Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (NIV).

If I was asked to fill in the blank, what word would I use? “For me, to live is ______.” Would it be entertainment? Sports? Clothes? Family? Friends? A career? I could fill in that blank with a lot of things that are not bad, things that are good in and of themselves. But nothing deserves the place of the One who created me and gave me my life: Jesus Christ.

How I fill in that blank will determine how happy I am in life. If I answer “money” or “success” or “pleasure” or “power,” I’m going to be unhappy for most of my life. The issue isn’t whether there’s something wrong with those things; they just don’t deserve first place.

I wasn't created to make a bunch of money, then die and have it given away. God has a far greater purpose for my life.

There is only one answer that leads to happiness: To live is Christ. To get the life I really want, learn to give my life away.

In summary, happiness comes from serving and giving my life away. Happiness comes from self-sacrifice, not self-gratification. Paul could say that he was happy because, even in the dark times of his life, he was giving his life away to help others. I’ll never be able to say that when I am living for myself, because I’ll never find happiness in status or salary or sex. To be happy, Paul had to stay focused on his purpose and not his problems. He sums up his purpose, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. If I was asked to fill in the blank, what word would I use? “To live is ______.” I could fill in that blank with a lot of things that are not bad, things that are good in and of themselves. But nothing deserves the place of the One who created me and gave me my life: Jesus. How I fill in that blank will determine how happy I am. I wasn't created to make a bunch of money, then die and have it given away. God has a far greater purpose. Only one answer that leads to happiness: “To live is Christ”. To get the life I really want, learn to give my life away.

To live is Christ and to die is gain. to live means to develop eternal values and to tell others about Christ. Paul's whole purpose, and one that I should make mine, is to speak out boldly for Christ and to become more like him. What I'm learning is that happiness comes from service and giving my life away. Paul knows that to be happy, he must stay focused on his purpose and not his problems. Nothing deserves the first place in my life than the one who created me and gave me life; Jesus. God has a far greater purpose for my life. So there is only one answer that leads to happiness: to live is Christ. So I need to learn to give my life away. It is my purpose.