Rejoice

Today I read Philippians 4 and one particular phrase, actually not even a phrase, just a word, stood out to me. Paul tells the Saints to rejoice. He actually says it twice and immediately I thought of 2 Nephi 2:25, "Men are that they might joy". This really stood out to me because in the daily drudge of this life, we can sometimes forget that the purpose of this life is to have joy and be happy, in the Lord's way. This life is not meant to be unpleasant or unhappy.

I remember the first time I heard about the medieval monks who would literally physically torture themselves because they did not think it was right that they should be so happy when Jesus Christ was crucified and died for us. I remember thinking they were fools and did not understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the slightest. Jesus died for us so that we might live again. He suffered for our sins so that we would not have to suffer. All we would need to do is to accept Jesus into our hearts and live the kind of life He would life if He were here. But I guarantee He enjoyed His earthly life. How could He not? It was a life of service and I have never been happier than when I am serving. I cannot imagine Jesus being any different.

But God did not mean for us to come down to this life and suffer and be unhappy. Far from it. He wants us to be happy. And why shouldn't we be happy? We have made sacred covenants with our Father in Heaven to serve Him all the days of our lives? We have the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a true knowledge of God's character. We understand that we can choose what type of life we will live after this one by the sheer fact of how we live our life down here. They say knowledge is power and truly it is. Knowledge of the true nature of the Atonement empowers you to live a full and happy life. And as we have been saying, we should be happy.

As we live the commandments we will be a better person and we will be able to find true happiness in this life, which can sometimes be hard to find. We might look for happiness in all the wrong places. That is why some people feel so lost all the time. They are struggling to find those things which will make us truly happy, and it is not always easy to find. But if we stay true to the Gospel, we should have no reason to not be happy. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to make us happy and when we follow it's tenants to the letter, we will be able to achieve the most happiness possible in this life. Until tomorrow.