Happiness in Relationship #2

People should connect to other people. It is called a relationship. There are many different kinds of relationships such as friendships, religion relationship, romantic relationships, and family relationships. Does relationship only connect with people? No it does not. The relationship could be connection between people and animals or people and God. What is the most important relationship in human lives? There may a lot of different opinions. However, here is one thing that people should know. It is relationship with God. The bible said that true happiness is making relationship with God. How can people find happiness in God? The bible said that sacrificing, living by the word, and praying make people happier.

             Sacrificing makes people happier. What is important in relationship? It may be to understand other people. Also sacrificing includes that meaning too. People should know what sacrificing means. How can people feel happy when they sacrifice? Many people may not understand what that means. In the bible, Jesus was killed because of us. It was his sacrificing for us. Can any people die for other people who they do not even know? In the bible, “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). Actually the word “Serve” and “Sacrifice” are different, but people cannot serve without sacrificing. For Christians, the Jesus is a father. Just think about a family, the father is the leader of family, the most respectable person, and a person who influences to family members. However, he said that he did not want to be served. How could he find happiness in sacrificing? There is a story about sacrificing. There was a guy who worked at factory. He did not have well education and skills so he drank every day and he did not have a dream. People around him thought that he was a loser. One day he met a girl, and she always encouraged him every day. He realized something that he should not live like that for his wife, so he stared to change himself. He went to work like two hours earlier and then he cleaned the factory every day. A few years later, he became a manager of that factory and he boss said that the boss had watched him for a few years, and he thought the guy could take care of the factory more than anyone. So the boss decided it. Did the worker do it for him? I do not think so. He did it for other people. Was not he happy when he became a manager? Doing something that no one wants to do is not that easy, but if someone does it, he or she feel better and will get better result.

             Living by the word makes people feel happier. What is living by the word? It is actually changing value. In Ten Commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). It does not mean actual other God like a Buddha. It means not to worship an idol. Anything people like except The God could be idol such as money, people, and foods. Most people like money, and people think that if they have a lot of money, they will be happy or happier. The money could be their idol. Are people who have a lot of money really happy? They are not really happy because they always try to keep it what they have and they always think how to earn more money. Sometimes they do really bad things as killing people or breaking the law. The bible is the manual for human’s lives. If people live to state in bible, people will not fight or feel guilty. Actually it is not easy living by the word and people think that if they live following the bible, they cannot success in their lives. They are just afraid of unsuccessful, but they can feel it if they do it. The happiest thing is spreading the gospel and watching people who they took to church how to improve their faithful is very funny and it may make them to feel proud of themselves. They can feel parents’ feeling when they raise their children up.

             Praying to God will make people feel happy. Especially, praying for other people will make people happier. The God said, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18). It is important to pray for by self, but it is stated in the bible that people should pray for their neighbors and other people or people who they do not like. Before people pray for other people they truly believe in God and “with deep conviction” (Thessalonians 1:5). When people pray for other people, The God grants their wish or praying automatically. The God wants people live together like a family. For instance, after family members fight, do they never forgive others? No they forgive them and also they may think and take care of them as much as they can. The God wants people to be like that. If people live like that people do not have to fight, get angry, and hate other people. Also the God said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Do you know what it means? If people who want something, they should pray sincerely. Then he will give whatever they want to them as free. People like free stuff, and the God said that he would give whatever they want to them as a free. It may be awesome ever, and it makes people feel happier or the happiest.

             As I said above, the relationship makes people happy and essential in human lives. However, it is difficult and important. As I stated here, the relationship with the God is the most important. Just people follow whatever was stated in the bible, sacrifice for other people, and pray for neighbors and other people who are in bad situation. Then he will give everything to people even the heaven.

Happiness in Relationship

Tal Ben-Shahar notes on how love and sacrifice are two essential elements in happiness in relationships. Most of the times, I see this as a hard combination. Sacrificing something is hard enough and sometimes people may not appreciate the outcome of it. As being a Christian, I can relate to this with my relationship with God. As humans, it’s hard to make sacrifices in our lives. Recently, I was blessed with happiness that God has rewarded me. It was an amazing experience and it still makes me speechless. For the past years that I have been working at my part time job, I was always selfish with the hours that I worked. I had my mind set on making as much money as I can by working longer hours than normal part timers. Since I started taking more classes than usual, I was exhausted both physically and mentally. I didn’t what to do except to just pray. At Sunday services, my pastor has been recently explaining on happiness. Happiness is not a goal nor an achievement, but rather a gift. The pastor explained that if we sacrificed, God will fill that sacrifice with His gift, not too little of it or too much of it. I really couldn’t grasp the concept too well.

             The days were passing and I was sick and tired of everything. I couldn’t take it anymore and brought down my stubbornness. I actually cut back off a few hours and that meant losing some money. I was worried since I had to pay several expenses, but I still believed and prayed. Then it happened. My sisters in Korea emailed me how they would help me by giving me some money each month. It was weird how everything fell into place. My worries were gone and even though I was physically and mentally tired, I felt happy. That happiness gave me a push to not give up and an experience of the strong bond between me and God.

             However, in reality relationship between people is different in my opinion. There has to be balance of sacrifice and sharing between people. For example, my relationship with my girlfriend has lasted two years already. She was born here and I have only been here in America for about 4 to 5 years. Also we do have somewhat of an age gap. Despite the barriers, both of us made small sacrifices for each other. I think that’s why our relationship is still strong and growing. By making sacrifices, we tend to grow and learn to understand each other. We understand the people who we really are and accept our flaws and traits. Just by doing this, we both feel the happiness that we’ve been searching for, the happiness of building towards that.