I took an introductory course in Philosophy when I was in my first semester of college. While I don’t remember a lot of what I learned at that time, I do recall our discussions about various theories of morality. Utilitarianism is one such theory that measures whether an action is right or wrong on a continuum of how much happiness it would produce. According to this theory, the most virtuous actions are the ones that produce the most happiness and least unhappiness. In a purely carnal sense, it sounds appealing. But it is troublesome to consider that there is no standard by which an action could be viewed as being right in an absolute sense. Morality is judged purely based on the arbitrary whim of humanly defined happiness produced in the individuals affected. This bothered me then, and it bothers me now. I never cared to take any additional courses in the field of ethics because to me it seemed that it was all baseless rhetoric.

Today we see the dominant ethics in our society disturbingly driven by what man judges is right, without any regard to an authoritative standard. Modern society wants to do what it wants, and condemns anyone who says that an action is wrong. As such, abortion, stealing, lying, and perversions of all sorts are confoundingly celebrated by so many. The ethics of mankind today seem to be based only upon hedonistic, self-serving desire. I find this quite disturbing.

We know from the pages of the Bible that behaving without the guidance of God’s immutable standard of law will lead to a disastrous outcome. “For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalm 1:6). A sinful practice of life is one that ignores God’s commandments, choosing instead to be directed by personal desire. By way of contrast, living a righteous Way of Life requires learning and practicing obedience to God’s laws. But the carnal nature of people fights against this standard. Carnal desire is at enmity with God (compare Romans 8:7). Therefore, without God to set the standard of ethics, people are doomed to perish!

It’s unfortunate that such a simple Truth is so undesirable to man. Ironically, rates of depression and suicide are so high, yet people don’t consider whether their code of ethics based on maximizing carnal pleasure might be the root cause. The answer for how to make a correction is simple. God makes the path to joy, prosperity and success very clear: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8). Not only does obedience to God’s law lead to righteousness, it also leads to a truly happy life. Many of us who have decided to try this out have proven it to ourselves. God’s Way works.

We are privileged to know that God establishes the true standard by which we can discern between actions that are right and wrong. We don’t have to worry about figuring it out for ourselves or debating with our peers. We can be satisfied in knowing that the Truth was established long ago, and that it works then, now, and forever. “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth” (Psalm 119:142). The world around us might be lost, but we have a perfect standard to live by.

There are moments in life that are utterly delightful if we are wise enough to take the time to appreciate them. A quiet, sunny summer morning conversing uninterrupted with my wife over a good cup of coffee is what does it for me. I’m sure you have moments that fit your own formula of delight.  Those kinds of moments are the easy ones to appreciate, of course. When there’s not a problem in the world that comes to mind and everything is wonderful, the experience of joy is readily available.

The thing about delightful moments is that they tend to pass by. If we don’t take the time to acknowledge the good things for which we have reason to be grateful, we can miss out on our opportunity to enjoy the gifts of momentary gladness that God gives us. I dare say that every single day is laden with delightful moments if we are attentive enough to capture them.  But we have to be adept enough to notice them, and deliberate enough to spend our time experiencing them.

For as many reasons that we can find to be delighted, we can find just as many reasons – or more – to be disgruntled. Being human, the disruptive elements in a moment can easily inundate our otherwise blissful state of being. The neighbor’s gas-powered leaf blower on a quiet, sunny summer morning is enough to ruin everything!

Acknowledging that life’s frustrations are abundant, how is it possible to find any meaningful, lasting joy in our life? Jesus Christ gives us a clue in John 16:33, “‘These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’”

The Bible is very clear in letting us know that life is hard, especially living as a Christian! But Jesus doesn’t tell us that we just have to be tough and suffer through it without any hope of relief in this life. He encourages us to rise above the reasons that we have to complain, and focus instead on the reasons we have to be cheerful. This world in which we find struggle is the same world that Jesus Christ has overcome. And in doing that, He has given us a hope that is far greater than relief from the struggles in life. We have the kind of hope that makes all problems infinitesimally insignificant – if we take the time to acknowledge and meditate on the infinite wonder of eternal life.

We have to look in the right places to find joy. It is not too difficult to indulge in a temporary hedonistic experience, but those will inevitably lead us down the wrong path. We obtain lasting joy by being filled with the Holy Spirit, which helps us understand our life with the mind of Christ and overflow with positive emotion. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul shares his perspective that a delightful state of being is attainable to us all, inspiring us to have a song in our heart!

“Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:17-20).

Our state of mind and Way of Life is filled with inspiration of God’s Spirit. Having God live with or even within us through His Holy Spirit allows us to be thankful for ALL things. Even the hard things that attempt to disrupt our delight serve a meaningful purpose for us in our spiritual growth as we learn to overcome (compare Romans 8:28). By setting our outlook in this way, we understand that each moment is a gift from God that offers us an opportunity to be thankfully delighted, with a song in our heart, knowing that His Will is working in our lives.