Change Your Thoughts. Change Your Life. Pt. 8
Maximum Happiness Happens Through Service (pt.2)
In the previous post, I shared with you that you can maximise your happiness by making a difference in your home (area one) and by making a difference in your church (area 2). Home and church are two of five areas in which you can serve others, make a difference, and maximise your happiness. Today I want to share with you three other areas where you can make a difference, and it will maximise your happiness and change someone else's life.
Maximise your happiness by making a difference in your sphere of influence.
Beyond our home and our church, each of us has influence. Where we live, work, hang out, workout, go to school, etc. We have influence. And if you want to experience lasting, maximum happiness, you have to look for ways to make a difference in people's lives in those spheres of influence. What would it look like if you were the chief servant in your corporation or at the hospital where you work? What would it look like if you were others-focused at your gym rather than indulging in your "me time." What would it look like if you kept your eyes out for the lonely or lost, or alienated on campus?
Jesus said to His first disciples, subsequently to us:
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” [MATTHEW 5:14-16]
Maximise your happiness by making a difference in your city.
These two could seem like the same thing, but they are not. When we look to make a difference in the lives of the folks in our city or cities, we are looking for opportunities to pursue the city's flourishing as a whole. Consider the word of the ancient truth-teller, Jeremiah.
“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare.” [JEREMIAH 29:7]
How do we seek the welfare of our cities? Establish permanence, invest in infrastructure, and plan for long and faithful work. In these things, we seek the welfare of the city where God has sent us. You also pray on its behalf, for in its welfare, we find our welfare. Are you poised to seek the welfare of your city, meaning its greater good? Do you want your community to be great, reflecting the glory of God who created it? Yes? Then you pray for your city. Ask the Holy Spirit to burden your heart to pray for your city. Ask the Holy Spirit to break your heart for what breaks His. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring you to tears over the exploitation of children and the hurt of the fatherless. Ask the Holy Spirit to make you restless over the institutions that uphold poverty and racism. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a supernatural love for your neighbours. Ask God to drive you to your knees in prayer for legislators, prayer for the City government, prayer for the school system, in prayer for the hurting, hopeless, and lost. Ask Him to hold your heart fast to His as you seek to see renewal happen. Ask Him for His help in praying on behalf of the cities, counties, or neighbourhoods where He's sent you. Ask for His help in seeking your city's welfare because your welfare is tied up in the city's welfare. You are tied to your community's economic, social, and cultural wellbeing.
Dr Tim Keller says this:
The most powerful way to show people the truth of Christianity is to serve the common good. The monks in the Middle Ages moved out through pagan Europe, inventing and establishing academies, universities, and hospitals. They transformed local economies and cared for the weak through these new institutions. They didn't set out to 'get control' of a pagan culture. They let the gospel change how they did their work, which meant they worked for others rather than themselves. Christians today should be aiming for the same thing...
Maximise your happiness by making a difference in your world.
One of my favourite passages in the scriptures is this:
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” [ISAIAH 6:8]
We do not have to spend long dwelling on this idea, but I will say this… some of you are called to go and serve the globe, either in Marketplace Missions or traditional missions work, but you are called to go. For those not called to go globally, we are called to support those who do. Support them through prayer. Support them by giving your first and best to God through the church. Support them with an encouraging message or email. Whatever our call in the global work, we are called to maximise our happiness by making a difference in the world.
All five areas point to one thing: Your purpose is to serve God by serving others. Your purpose is to serve God by serving others, which is why this moment matters. If you dial yourself into that purpose—your purpose—then I assure you that maximum happiness is within your reach.
At the end of your life, and there will be an end to life as we presently experience it, you will not be fulfilled by what you accumulated, how much influence you had, or how many experiences you enjoyed. Anecdote, Scripture, and Science prove that what makes life complete in the end is the sense that we made a difference in the world by how we impacted, loved, and served other people. It is proven. You need a new focus. You need a new focus to maximise your happiness. Because focusing on yourself and your needs alone will lead to the life you want.
So what do you do if willing to accept the weight of Scripture, science, and story? Simple… serve. Serve. Be the chief servant in your home. Pray for Jesus to open your eyes to the city's needs—and engage them! Find an organisation to give your time and abilities. Give your whole heart to the work of your local church.
Now, if you are not a follower of the way of Jesus, hear me say that I in no way believe you are prohibited from doing good in every arena named. My friends far from God are some of the best servant-leaders I know, making a significant impact in the world. So why does following Jesus' way matter?
As hard as this might be to hear, you or I can do all the good we want in this world, but I believe there is life beyond this world. Energy, science says, can neither be created nor destroyed, so there is a case to be made that even if you do not believe in heaven or hell, you know we go on in some form. I believe that the bible, centred around the Jesus narrative, best explains what happens when we go on, which means that all of our good ends here unless it is tethered to the eternal story Jesus is weaving.
Jesus wants you to be a part of that eternal story and for the good you do, to impact beyond our present and material world.
He wants to give you eternal and abundant life and happiness that circumstance cannot thwart. And I, too desperately, want you to experience this invitation from Jesus. Will you accept it now?
In closing this post and series on happiness, I will say this—friends, the Church mobilised is the world's hope; I believe that, and I hope you would too. And to be mobilised, we must be activated in our gifts and focused on making a difference in the lives of others.
If we want to see the world awakened to the wonder of God and His transcultural church, we have to serve our way to that reality. If we, who say we follow Jesus, were the chief servants in the world, what kind of impact do you think we could have in our neighbourhoods, schools, work and world? I believe it would be jaw-dropping, to say the least. I think hearts, indeed the world would awaken! You will be most happy when you serve others. I believe in you. I believe that you are the ones who will change this world. All it takes is one step in the right direction.