On Happiness versus Joy

Hey guys 🙂 Remember ‘Joy’ from Disney’s “Inside Out”? Have you even wondered why she wasn’t named ‘Happy’?

I promised you guys on my first blog that I will write about the difference between happiness and joy! So here it is!

Let me remind you again that I did not choose to name my blog “The Happy Misfit” which seems like they mean the same thing, but it’s not! Well… in my opinion it’s not.

What makes people happy? People believe that ‘things’ can create the feeling of happiness. Things like money, a friend, or love make people feel happy. When that thing is taken away though, your happiness can be easily taken away by it (whatever you consider your happiness is). But for joy, I believe that there doesn’t need to be some material, person, or thing to create joy. Joy is a state of being opposed to happiness which is occasional and circumstantial.

As I get older, I realize that happiness is difficult to sustain. This is because your sources of happiness are easily taken away. Your job, partner, honour, whatever it is that you hold as the source of your happiness are bound to be taken away someday. As humans, enough is never enough for us. We live to fill this huge void inside of us so we work and we search but while we do this, our happiness is fading. Our search and disappointments make us bitter and depressed. We ask ourselves, “Will we ever be able to fill this void during our lifetime?”

Then, where can we find joy while our feeling of happiness is fading away by this endless cycle of searching for happiness?

Joy comes from the spirit of God. It is the fruit of the spirit that lives in us.

These days I ask for joy and peace from God. I know that having wealth, a house, family will give me a feeling of happiness and security but they won’t be enough. I will probably try to find something more. I will always have other things that will worry me, and things that I want to make me feel content. I know that happiness is a temporary thing.

I want joy because joy is lasting and sustained. When there are waves of stress and misery, I know that I won’t be miserable with joy residing inside of me. Happiness will fade and wane but joy is lasting and sustained.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8-9)

I hope as Christians we’re able to cautiously discern the desire of our hearts. Do we live for things that make us feel temporarily happy? Or do we live for God who gives us joy (as the end result of our faith) while we walk with Him on our temporary journey on earth?

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)