I believe that the words of Jesus have the power to transform every human life, whether or not one believes that he was God. Nowhere is this more evident than in the words of Matthew 6:19-23. This profound passage has only 100 words, but in those words, Jesus reveals the map to true happiness. Here are the first few lines:
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal.
But store up treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
In these words, Jesus clearly states that I will never find true happiness in the external world. This seems quite depressing at first, but it is undoubtedly true. If my happiness depends on what is going on in the external world outside of myself, then my happiness is always going to be subject to being destroyed by events that I cannot control – accidents, disasters and other upheavals are always just around the corner in every human life. If my happiness depends on my personal circumstances, it is always going to be subject to decay from illness or disease or the inevitable aging process. It is always going to be in danger of being stolen by people who manipulate or oppress or mistreat or betray me.
There is no escaping the fact that all sources of external happiness are fleeting and that fact is often a source of anxiety for me. It’s hard for me to be completely happy when my circumstances are good because I know damn well that my circumstances are not going to stay that way!
But luckily for me, Jesus then points out the way to lasting happiness:
“Store up treasures in heaven,” he says, “for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
Since Jesus clearly states more than once in the gospels that is heaven is located within me and that God is also located within me, I know that he is saying that the source of true happiness has to come from within myself. My treasure is where my heart is – not outside in the world, but deep within me.
The next few lines of this passage from Matthew seem somewhat mysterious and mystical, but in fact, they are very practical.
“The lamp of the body is the eye.
If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light;
but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness.
And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.”
Here Jesus is simply telling me that true happiness does not come from what I am looking at, but where I am looking from. If I look outward with a negative attitude, seeing every bad thing that happens to me or to those I love as a threat to my happiness, then my fears will be realized and inevitably, something bad will come along to destroy my happiness. But if I look outward with a positive attitude, knowing that true happiness lies within me, then nothing can destroy it – absolutely nothing! True happiness is my birthright. It is everyone's birthright. It comes from our innermost being, from the One Spirit of Life within all of us.
This does not mean that we will never suffer or feel pain or disappointment, but it does mean that it is possible for us to view our suffering from a place of inner happiness, knowing that all suffering is temporary and that true happiness is eternal.
In the Bible, the name for eternal happiness is “joy” and in John 15:11 which is another profound New Testament passage, Jesus clearly states that he wants me to have it:
“I have told you these things so that my joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing,” he says.
And I find, once again, that Jesus is right. Happiness is often self-centered, fleeting and contained by external circumstances, but joy, like light, can never be contained because it overflows from within. It sheds light on the outside world and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.
“
Comments will be approved before showing up.
