Miserable people will tell you everything that’s wrong with the world. They will tell you who’s wrong and who’s to blame (which almost always ends up being someone else). Many people who are miserable don’t want to be happy. They have become so wrapped up in their misery that it’s a part of their identity, a kind of emotional security blanket that they wear at all times.

Happy people are the ones who know that there’s a lot wrong with the world, but are the ones doing their part to fix it. They know there are wrong people and bad people out there, but they know there’s a lot they need to work on in themselves and are too focused on being better people to dwell and harp on the other sinners.

Happy people are the ones the Bible calls blessed. They’re the ones who know what it’s like to be poor in spirit, to mourn, to be meek, to hunger and thirst for right living, to be merciful because they have been shown mercy, and to be pure in heart as they have been transformed by Jesus. They are blessed not because they’re materially wealthy or ridiculously popular but because they have the favor of God on them.

To be miserable is a choice. To be happy is a choice. It’s a choice we make every single day with every single decision and every single response to everything that is done to us. The Bible says that to be happy is to lose yourself to find yourself, to die to yourself that you might find real life, and to take up your cross and serve that you might know all the fullness of joy and abundance that God has to offer.