Thinking about this quote, it’s easy to agree. “Money doesn’t buy happiness” is often used as a form of encouragement to dig deeper in life and not care about so many materialistic things. But as I have been living in Albania for the past 2 months, most people only really care about money. They live their lives focused on ways to make money. “If only we could go to America and have more opportunities”, they tell us daily, “then we will be happy”. Frankly, I can’t argue with them. It’s true, we do have more opportunities living in the states .These people walk around day in and day out constantly worried about jobs and exhausted from the hours they put in on a weekly basis. As someone who, compared to them, has had everything basically handed to her, I simply cannot relate. I can’t tell them that they should just make the most of their lives here in Albania and make the best of their situation, because coming from me, it would be like Bill Gates telling me that money isn’t everything. How do I tell people about Jesus and what He did for us when they can’t step away from their mindset of only trying to be successful? But I do have one thing going for me that people who don’t know God just can’t fathom.
Happiness and joy are two completely different things.
On a day to day basis, most people aren’t happy. Most people have something they want to change, something they wish was different. People can’t be happy with what they have because they are constantly comparing themselves to others. I am a firm believer in the phrase “the grass is greener on the other side”, because so many times we just want what others have. Well I can say that being a Christian and having an intimate relationship with the Lord has changed my outlook on this topic of “money can’t buy happiness”.
For a long time I thought that happiness and joy were the same thing, just synonyms, but they are most definitely not. Happiness is something that comes from the flesh, something that humans have created. Happiness comes from earthly things, like a nice car and a big house. Joy on the other hand, comes from something in the supernatural. It comes from your spirit, from a place of depth.
Happiness is a short term solution, while joy is a long term promise.
Joy is a choice. Joy isn’t waking up with a smile on your face, but even on the hard days, choosing to love the life that you were given by the creator of the universe. True joy and love for your life comes from God. It comes from knowing Him and understanding the grace and mercy he has blessed you with. It comes from being in love with Christ and having the wisdom to choose your life over anyone else’s simply because it is what God intended for you. It is the decision you have made to be satisfied with what you have been gifted with, even if it wouldn’t be your first choice. So ultimately yes, money really does buy happiness, because it buys all the earthly and surface level things you could want. But it will NEVER give you things that will truly change your perspective and allow you to be in love with the life you have. Money will give you a chance at comfort, but God calls us to a life of discomfort with Him. I don’t know about you, but I would choose joy over happiness any day.
