In this week’s Monday Morning Devotional, we shift slightly from our study of desire to explore the idea of a quality life. The main purpose of desires and their fulfillment, it seems, is to build the good life. But what exactly is the good life, according to scripture?
For years, I have studied various philosophers, their works, and ideas in an effort to better develop and cultivate my own perspective and understanding of truth and life. Deeply embedded within the work of nearly all Western philosophy is the idea that the objective of life is the attainment of happiness. Philosophers throughout history have rarely disagreed on this presumed objective, but only on how it is to be achieved.
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato believed happiness comes from cultivating four key virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice. Happiness is about reaching the highest level of self-actualization. Notably, this includes the ability to control personal desires. According to Plato, “The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depend upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily.”
His disciple, Aristotle, believed happiness was the main goal and purpose of life. He taught that it is achieved by living a life of virtuous activity guided by reason. He said, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”
The Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius believed that happiness is found in accepting fate and living according to nature and reason. In true Stoic fashion, he thought that virtue is the only true good and external circumstances are irrelevant to the genuine pursuit of happiness.
Including Christianity in the discussion, Thomas Aquinas believed that true happiness could only be achieved in heaven through a perfect vision of God.
The Enlightenment philosophers advanced the pursuit of the good life, emphasizing happiness as a key goal. John Locke, a philosopher influential in America’s founding and revolutionary era, saw happiness as a natural right connected to liberty and personal fulfillment. His ideas are reflected in America’s Declaration of Independence, where Thomas Jefferson stated that all men are entitled to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Immanuel Kant took a bold, contrarian step in philosophy by arguing that happiness is not the highest goal in life, but rather moral goodness is. However, he recognized that humans naturally pursue happiness, even if virtue alone doesn’t guarantee it. In other words, a virtuous life doesn’t ensure happiness—though, in a just world, it should.
In my opinion, the most influential philosophical figures behind the idea of happiness as the ultimate goal in life are utilitarian philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. They argued that the highest good and morality are based on what brings the most happiness to the greatest number. These ideas are still reflected today in everything from democratic and socialist politics to pop music. As Sheryl Crow once sang, “If it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad.”
As I explored these ideas and philosophies, a thought occurred to me—Is this assumption even correct? Is happiness truly the goal and standard for a good life? I realize this idea is so ingrained in our culture and ideologies that it takes effort to pause and consider whether it is right or not.
The problem is that happiness seems like a very Western goal. Maybe that’s not quite right. Happiness is often a goal for those who are already prosperous. I think about a Sudanese woman risking rape and death to bring water home for her children. How many times a day does she reflect on her happiness? Is that really what matters? What about an immigrant traveling from South America, trying to cross into the U.S.? Is he seeking happiness, or is he after food, safety, and support for his family?
As I examined the validity of our assumption about the happiness goal, I looked to scripture. Surprisingly, the word “happy” is mentioned fewer than 30 times in the King James Version of the Bible.
Our personal desires are generally rooted in the pursuit of personal happiness, but from a scriptural perspective, happiness is a pretty low priority in life. That is what God seems to be saying about it anyway.
There is a word that we, unfortunately, closely associate with happiness and that is frequently used in the Bible when describing what is often considered the goal of the kingdom lifestyle. That word is “blessed.” (For the curious, it appears over 300 times in scripture.) I say unfortunate because, in our modern religious language, the word “blessed” has been reduced to little more than a greeting and a synonym for happy.
Question: “How are you doing?”
Answer: “Oh, I’m blessed.”
It means little and everything, all at once.
The “blessed” life described in scripture is quite different from happiness and is definitely unique in how it connects to our personal desires. A careful study of the word blessed in scripture shows it to mean a life that has God’s attention. That might include prosperity and satisfaction in this world, but it can also mean contentment amid poverty and fulfillment amid loss.
As Jesus described in the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, “blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who are persecuted, blessed are the meek…” and so on. The blessed life is the life that God looks upon with favor because we have found something special in this life. That something special is His attention.
This was the life Abraham modeled for us. It was the life that David surprises us with. It is the life of greatness, the good life if you will, for the citizens of the Kingdom of God. The good life is not fueled by our desires or our pursuit of happiness. The truly good life is driven by a desire to live in the favor of God’s sight.
The Old Testament priests would pray over the children of God and evoke an image that captures this idea.
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:
“The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.“‘
“So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Numbers 6:22-27
My desire, our desire as God’s people, should not be for our personal happiness or desires. Instead, it should be for His blessing. His blessing is defined as His attention and gaze upon our lives.
This article was initially published as our Monday Morning Devotional.
