Do you want to be happy?

Then Make someone else happy.

It’s really that simple. If you make someone happy, that act will make you happy.

When you do a good dead for someone, what happens? The person you do the deed for is thankful, and that makes you happy. You feel good about yourself and what you have done. They feel good about what you have done for them… it’s a win, win situation.

But, there’s always a but isn’t there, if the person you do something for is not appreciative of what you have done, you are hurt, aren’t you. Didn’t they see you went out of your way to lend them a hand? Don’t they care? In most cases, when you do something for someone, if they don’t show appreciation, it hurts you. You may not feel like doing anything extra for them or anyone else again.

The exception to this rule, is when you do something for someone and you don’t want them to know who did it. Some times there’s a reason you don’t want anyone to know what you did. In that case, doing something for someone else, makes you happy whether they are thankful or not. But most of the time, you want to be recognized for your good deed. You want that, "Thank you," that smile that says it all.

If you want to be happy, make someone else happy.

If you want a happy marriage, make your spouse happy. If you really love each other, you can’t help but want to make the other person happy. You do things for them, maybe you take out the garbage or clean the garage, or cook their favorite dinner or take them out to a favorite place. Or you may clean the house, give them a back rub or just listen to them when they have a problem. You support them in their work, both at home and at their job. You’re understanding when things don’t go right. You’re a shoulder to cry on, an arm to lean on. You make sure you are there for them.

It makes you happy to make them happy, if you know you’re appreciated. It’s a two way street, if one person is constantly giving and never getting a thank you, a sign of appreciation, the relationship is in trouble.

The key to a happy marriage is not only working to make each other happy, but understanding and appreciating the things you do for each other.

Guys, that means if there is something your wife likes to do, that you’re not crazy about, go with the flow once in a while. If it makes her happy to have you with her when she goes shopping, then don’t sweat it. Relax and go with her, it’s not that big a deal. And if she wants you along, then there is a reason, she wants your opinion, your thoughts about what she’s buying. She may just want your company. Enjoy it, and you never know what you might get in return, either at the store or when you get home. If she appreciates you being with her, then be grateful and go along with her.

Ladies, if your guy is a sports nut and wants to share that part of himself with you, then appreciate his desires. What does is really cost you to learn the difference between a line drive and a touch down? A foul and a fly ball. Chances are, once you learn a little bit about the game or games he likes, you’ll find you’re having almost as much fun as he is. And he’ll appreciate you’re willingness to enter that part of his life.

Problems happen in a marriage when someone is not appreciated for the things they do, or when someone doesn’t try to appreciate the things the other does.

How many times have you heard someone say, "She just doesn’t understand me," or "He doesn’t appreciate me?"

Once that happens, the marriage is in trouble. You may stay married, but you won’t be happy. Being a secret giver in a marriage is not a good thing.

To be happy, you have to make the other person happy and know they appreciate it.

If your wife or husband were gone tomorrow and you were alone, what would you feel like? What would you do? One thing you’d do, is remember all the things they did for you and for your family, that they are not there to do anymore. You’d remember all the times they went out of their way to do something they didn’t have to do. Make something they didn’t have to make. And if you never said, "Thank you" for all those things, their leaving is going to hurt even more.

Love is truly the one thing we take with us when we go, and the one thing we leave behind that means anything. Think about that, love and those we love, who love us are the greatest treasures we have.

When you do things for your love, it makes both of you happy, and it makes or should make the other want to do something for you.

Guys, if you do things to make your wife happy and she appreciates what you do, you are happy and so is she. And she’s going to want to do things to make you happy, thus making her happy because she’ll see how much you appreciate what she does. And then you’ll want to do even more for her. It soon becomes a never ending cycle of each making the other happy.

And where did I get this insight you might ask?

Living and loving my late wife for almost 17 years. Standing with her as she fought chronic back and neck pain and the depression that goes with it. If it made her happy, it made me happy. If she wanted something, it made me happy to do it or get it for her. Nothing was more important to me, then doing whatever I could to make her happy. Right up to and including the day she passed. Loving and making her happy was more important to me then anything else in my life. What I wanted didn’t matter as long as I was there for her. If I could make her laugh or crack a smile, if I could see that twinkle in her eyes, my week was complete. That’s where I got this insight from, that and one more place…

The Bible…

Matthew 22:34-40 says:

The second commandment, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF" says it all when it comes to being happy. For who is your neighbor? It’s everyone else, everyone who you come across.

Jesus in John 15:12 says:

• "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you."

And when we love someone, what do we do to show that love? We strive to make them happy. And if they really love us, they do the same.

But, look at the first part of that quote from Matthew 22.

"YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND."

It came into my mind that the idea of making yourself happy by doing things to make someone else happy, works with our relationship with God too.

After all we are made in His image aren’t we? God Himself is the model for all that we are and can be.

In Philippians 2:13 it says:

• "for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

Matthew 7:11 says:

• "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"

Luke 12:32 says:

• "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

You see, God delights in making you happy. He works to bless you and your life. To bring you closer to Him.

God blesses you, blesses you all through your life.

And the greatest Blessing He gives you is the gift of Eternal life and forgiveness of sin through His Son Jesus Christ. For God became a man and died for You. And all that He asks is that you believe, that you appreciate what He did for you. Just as you need to see appreciation for what you do for others, God wants you to appreciate what He has done for you.

As the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son rejoices when the son who was lost is returned, so to does the Father in Heaven rejoice when one of His adopted children returns to Him.

In the story of the Prodigal Son, the son comes to realize how good he had it when he was at home, and how he wasted his life searching for what he already had at home with his father. He comes to appreciate all that his father did for him, and he goes home. His father, who sees his son coming home, rejoices that one who was lost is found. In a very real way, that father now knows his lost son appreciates what he had done for him, and so will our Father in Heaven, rejoice when He sees that we appreciate what He’s done for us. When we come home.

But, here’s that but again, if you don’t appreciate what God has done for you, don’t accept His love, unlike a marriage, God will not abandon you. He will keep trying to show himself to you. But if you never show any appreciation for what He does, never accept His Son, you will never be as happy as you could have been. You may have riches here on earth, but when you die, you will have nothing. When you stand before His judgment seat it will be to late to thank Him. He will turn His back on you, saying, "I never knew you."

Don’t wait until it’s to late. When, in this life, you finally wake up to what the Father has done in your life, all the blessings He has given you, it makes Him happy and He will shine His light on you. And like the father in the story, He rejoices in Heaven that what He’s done is recognized and appreciated. It’s celebration time. And don’t you think that’s going to make the Father want to bless you even more?

And just as a spouse who appreciates all that is done for them and wants to do something to make the other happy, you are going to start asking God what you can do for Him for all He’s done in your life.

And what has He done, other then saving you from sin through Jesus and the work on the cross, you might ask?

Well, just think back over your life, how you met your wife or your hubby. How you came to the job you do, what it took to have the family you have, even the times they said it was going to rain, but didn’t. Every good thing that has happened in your life is from God.

James 1 1:17 says:

• "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning."

Who gave you the drive to succeed, to do the things you do? Who gave you the will to keep going when others said give up? Who gave you the light when all around you was darkness?

Once you acknowledge all He has given you, you just have to ask, "Lord, you have given me so much, what can I do for you?"

Now, you might think, what can I possibly do for God, He’s God, He has everything?

What do you get a God who has or can make, everything?

You can start off with the one thing He can’t make, He can’t make you Love Him, He can’t make you believe what He did through His Son Jesus Christ. He can’t make you want to follow Him.

So, you can start by believing Jesus was who He said He was and did what He did for You. That will make God the Father, God the Son, Happy.

You can acknowledge all that He has done for you in your life and thank Him. Thank Him with your Praise and Worship, thank Him by Studying His Word, by Living in His Word.

Do you know you it actually make God happy when you ask Him for help? When you realize that you can’t do everything by yourself, that you need Him.

And it’s the same in your marriage, you make your wife or hubby happy when you acknowledge that you need them, need their help. That you can’t do something without them. That makes them happy. And because they love you, they will be happy to help you all they can, and it’s the same with God.

He is happy when you ask Him for help, for His guidance.

And as with a marriage, this becomes a two way street, God makes you happy by blessing you and doing things for you, and you make Him happy by doing things for Him. And on and on it goes.

So, ask Him, "Lord, you have given me so much, what can I do for You?"

And listen, He’s there and He will speak to you.

If you Love the Lord with all your heart and all you mind, and want to know what you can do for Him, what His will is for your life, He will put it there in your heart, in your mind.

Philippians 2:13 says,

• "for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

And in Hebrews 8:10-12 the Lord says, quoting from Jeremiah 31-34,

• 10 "FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 11 "AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, `KNOW THE LORD,' FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. 12 "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE."

So, you want to know what you can do for God?

If you Love Him, truly LOVE Him, search your heart. What is it that you want to do, like to do, that can please Him?

• Do you like to write, then write for GOD.
• Do you like to sing, then sing for GOD.
• Do you like to work in the garden, then do that work for GOD.
• Do you like to create art, then create it for GOD.
• Do you like to do the different things of business, then make that business work for GOD.

And so on… Spread the word of God and His Love to all, through what He gives you to do.

God will put in your heart what it is you can do for Him and He will give you what you need to do it.

That is what you can do for God. That will make Him happy, and when you make God Happy, you will be very happy.

Believe He died for you, thank Him for all He’s done for you, study His word and keep His word in your heart, and do what He will place there.

God will be happy and You will be happy.

And you will know that no matter what happens in your life, no matter what ups or downs come your way, God will be there working beside you to make you happy in the end.

Romans 8:28

• "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

God has truly blessed you all of your life, acknowledge that and Thank God for all He’s done. Ask His help and He will answer that call and make you happy, giving you His peace.

In closing, to be happy in your life, make someone else happy and appreciate those who do things for you and do the same, with and for GOD.

Romans 15:13

• "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."