Is it a sin to be happy?

[Andromeda_Organa]

I came across a scripture in James that says "turn your laughter into mourning" so I was just wondering- since I suffer from depression- is it a sin to be happy? Have I had the right attitude all along?

[Sarah]

I suggest you look at the context of who James was addressing and the times.

[Paul Hazelwood]

I came across a scripture in James that says "turn your laughter into mourning" so I was just wondering- since I suffer from depression- is it a sin to be happy? Have I had the right attitude all along?

I don't know, let me be real honest with you here.


I was cracking up earlier about some of the things some Christians were saying and honestly was busting a gut.  Then it dawned on me how much they are in bondage to think the things I was laughing at.   So, I was really sad for them now.


I also do not mean to make light of the things you go through.   But if it was not for my depression I would not have understood love the way I do now.

Ponder , wonder,  question, doubt, fear......  dude ......  your human.   Embrace it, work it to a strength,  it can be done.    Fight!!!!

[Doc]

It's not a sin to be happy. In fact, God wants us to have Joy. And, he wants our joy to be made full!

One of the things we have to keep in mind about depression is that it is not a disease. It is a symptom that can manifest from a whole host of things, including as a side effect of diseases as well as "subclinical" things that may be physical or spiritual in origin, or both. I know when I struggled with it, it was largely a spiritual issue. But I know that it can be caused by many physical conditions as well. Too much stress (of any kind) can cause it. I believe it was Linus Pauling that said that every disease and malady known to man can ultimately be traced back to some form of stress.

Whenever someone suffers from depression, it is from some kind of imbalance in their life, whether it be physical, spiritual or both.

Ask the Lord to show you what it is. When He is ready to reveal it to you, He will.

[martincisneros]

Hi,

No, it's not a sin to be happy.  Happiness is like sex.  It's possible to turn something so incredibly beautiful into something so disgustingly damnable depending on how you pursue it, where you're pursuing it, etc., etc., etc.  But in itself it's beautiful and in the right context can be a beautiful part of the plan of God for our lives.  It depends on what you're happy about or trying to seek happiness about.  If you're talking about an overall elevated mood and natural/supernatural state of being where you share our Lord's happiness, then it's admirable and something to be pursued at all costs.  Happiness is like money.  Not a sin to have it, but sometimes it's good to reevaluate on why you've wanted it, how you've been pursuing it, and what you'd do if you honestly ever were overtaken with an amazing amount of it.  Some would say that I'm wandering into the subtleties of happiness, joy, contentment, purpose, and other things in saying this the way that I'm saying it. 

But an old tape that I found the other day by Tony Robbins, on how to make permanent changes in one's life in a matter of moments, sorta clarified to me in a new way that what everyone is pursuing is finding happiness and trying to avoid pain, and that no matter what someone is caught up in, trying to do, or whatever, it comes down to some subliminal idea somewhere that this and this will mean happiness, while this and this will mean pain -- whether we're right or wrong, and that's what's motivating our actions that are helping us or sabotoging us.  Happiness is not a sin of itself.  It's why all of us are the way that we are, barring the obvious exceptions of chemical imbalances.  Perhaps a better way of putting it is that it's why we do the things that we do, because of some subliminal somewhere in our heads [that's usually gone unchallenged thus far] about this means pleasure, while that means pain.  It's not wrong to be happy.  The blessing of the Lord makes rich and adds no sorrow to it.  If sorrow were a thing to be coveted, then there wouldn't be so many promises in Scripture about sorrow and sighing fleeing.  In the KJV, Isaiah 35 even talks about everlasting joy coming down on people's heads.

[Akira Takahashi]

No, I don't think it's a sin to be happy, since it is a God-given emotion.  Let's not also forget all the times that the angels were portrayed as rejoicing.  However, I do feel that happiness can be sinful if you derive your pleasure from sinful things.

At any rate, I boast more of my suffering and my turmoil than I do my happiness, since without it, those rare drops of happiness don't seem so precious to me, and I believe I am closer to God in my suffering.  Well, at least most of the time, anyway.  Because of depressive episodes and suffering (whether physical or emotional), I can rejoice all the more when I see the good does for people, the animals, and the world.