God Thoughts on Us Being Happy

[Timothy524]

Are there any passages that talk about God wanting us to be happy? I ask this because I have been feeling very depressed lately and shameful of sin from my childhood, teenage years, and 20s. I was not a consistent Catholic or church goer during these years of my life. Therefore, I never confessed the sins to a priest. They weigh down on me now that I want to have a close relationship with Jesus. I was a wicked kid at times and my past feels so stacked against me. I think it is my sins that have led to my mental disorders. This leads me to have backwards thinking and doubt about many things. It affects my prayer life and the way I interpret the Bible. I feel selfish asking God for things like happiness because I feel as though it is what I will for myself because I have so much regret and sadness. (I can’t figure out which came first my sadness or regret…if sadness, am I truly sorry for my sins). It’s like a person that is caught for doing something wrong and when he or she apologizes, people say that the person is only apologizing because they got caught, not because they are remorseful. Sometimes I wonder is that why I am apologizing for my sins… Not because I got caught by anyone in this world, but because I feel like I’ve been caught by God because I finally realized he knows all of my hearts intentions of past, present, and future. It would be nice to know that God wills me to be happy so that I don’t feel selfish for wanting this for myself and so I can feel comfortable willing the same thing for myself.

 

[LaughingBoy1503]

1st Thessalonians 5:16-18

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

That is what first came to my mind. Though I admit I have trouble with always being joyful. It comes and goes for me. Some people are always happy and I just do not know how that is but I am happy for them. But I try to be joyful and forget my worries every once in awhile even if only because God wants us to.

 

[Dorothy]

It is a grace to feel sorry for one’s past sins; pray for the grace to correct that. That is why the Lord gave us the sacraments. Good advice and then a sincere confession and the Lord forgets all our past sins.

The closer we get to the Lord, the happier we are.

From what you shared I get that you are in need of some Catholic teaching?

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you richly and lead and guide you to His true happiness.

Peace!

Dorothy

 

[fhansen]

God’s whole desire, from the beginning, has been the uncompromised and complete happiness of man. He knows that we cannot achieve this apart from Him. Adam thought otherwise. We’re here to learn that Adam was wrong. Check out these search results from the Catechism on “happiness” and “beatitude” from here:

ccc.scborromeo.org.master.com/texis/master/search/?sufs=0&q=happiness&xsubmit=Search&s=SS

and here:
ccc.scborromeo.org.master.com/texis/master/search/?sufs=0&q=beatitude&xsubmit=Search&s=SS

 

[fred_conty]

Are there any passages that talk about God wanting us to be happy? I ask this because I have been feeling very depressed lately and shameful of sin from my childhood, teenage years, and 20s. I was not a consistent Catholic or church goer during these years of my life. Therefore, I never confessed the sins to a priest. They weigh down on me now that I want to have a close relationship with Jesus. I was a wicked kid at times and my past feels so stacked against me. I think it is my sins that have led to my mental disorders. This leads me to have backwards thinking and doubt about many things. It affects my prayer life and the way I interpret the Bible. I feel selfish asking God for things like happiness because I feel as though it is what I will for myself because I have so much regret and sadness. (I can’t figure out which came first my sadness or regret…if sadness, am I truly sorry for my sins). It’s like a person that is caught for doing something wrong and when he or she apologizes, people say that the person is only apologizing because they got caught, not because they are remorseful. Sometimes I wonder is that why I am apologizing for my sins… Not because I got caught by anyone in this world, but because I feel like I’ve been caught by God because I finally realized he knows all of my hearts intentions of past, present, and future. It would be nice to know that God wills me to be happy so that I don’t feel selfish for wanting this for myself and so I can feel comfortable willing the same thing for myself.

You can be sorry in confession for the punishment you might face. This is allowable only in confession, but it is allowed for the forgiveness of sin. So even if that is all a person has is fear of punishment, that suffices to have sins forgiven.

Just so you might feel better, ask the priest if this isn’t so the next time you go. Because it dosen’t make a bit of difference what intentions you may have had which led you to confession, but only the sorrow, either for offending Jesus out of love, or because you fear the punishment.