Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - The Price Tag for Happiness

Recently I took a trip to a local theme park and noticed a shop with a large stuffed Santa Claus for sale. This shop was full of every kind of Christmas tree, ornament, and Santa you could imagine. But this particular seven-foot Santa, standing at the entrance to the shop, cost $12,000!

As I caught my breath after seeing the price tag, it reminded me that there are so many people who live their life trying to buy happiness, and I'm guilty myself. Whether it's a seven-foot stuffed Santa, a house, or a child's love, we will throw money at it if it promises to replace the emptiness we feel with a sense of value, happiness, and achievement.

But have you ever noticed how long it takes for the "new" to wear off those things that promised to make our life complete? I'll never forget one Christmas as a child when I really wanted my own electric guitar. I just had to have it, so I did what most kids do when they want something really badly - I told my parents over and over again how bad I wanted it!

Guess what happened - I got what I asked for. As my family finished opening presents that Christmas, my parents told me to go into a back room because they had a surprise. After a few minutes that felt like hours, they told me to come back into the living room to see my surprise. And sure enough, I looked and saw a beautiful red electric guitar and accompanying amp, just waiting for me to play it. I couldn't believe my eyes! I started jumping up and down and yelling with joy. I picked up the guitar and started playing it as if I knew what I was doing.

That lasted a few months at best. Before I knew it, my desires of one day becoming a great guitarist were long gone and I set my heart on something else that I just had to have. The irony of this story is that as an adult, I face the same issues. I see the next latest and greatest whatever. You fill in the blank because you face the same battles I do. We buy into the illusion that whatever we don't have is exactly what we need for our life to be happy.

Our culture does a great job of creating a consumer discontent within each of us so that we are simply unhappy until we buy what they have to offer. The story gets even worse when we consider the fact that it's not just the things we buy that seem to lose their newness to us. Today we have married couples "shopping" for happiness outside the marriage bed. We have young people "shopping" outside of a life of purity to find acceptance and love, only to be disappointed. And I have to admit that even striving to do the right thing in each area of life can start to feel old after a while.

So what do we do about this dilemma? How can we fix what's broken deep down inside of us so that we can get a handle on this problem of trying to chase down the illusions of happiness?

• We must start by developing an attitude of contentment. Being content doesn't mean it is wrong to desire things we don't have. It just means we don't chase the things we think we need for the purpose of making us happy. Begin writing out a list of things you have failed to thank God for lately in your life, and I can promise you the list will become convincing enough to help you want to change.
• Find your sense of value and worth, not in things or even in human relationships but in your relationship with your Creator. You were made by Him and for Him, you are the crown of His creation, and He even allowed His own Son to die on a cross to pay for all of the wrongdoing you have ever done. He wants you to know Him in a very real and personal way.
• Start giving to others. I'm not talking about giving gifts necessarily. I'm talking about giving your life away to others. And let's crank it up a notch - give yourself to others who cannot give back, and don't tell anybody what you did.
• Keep the present in perspective in light of eternity. As you give yourself away for the good of others, remember that God has an eternal plan for us as well, and He wants to use your life to impact others for eternity. For ideas on how to do this in your daily life, I encourage you to check out Ron Hutchcraft's DVD series called "A Life That Matters." Ultimately, the void in your life will only continue to grow until you discover the eternal purposes God has for you in this life, and that includes reaching out to the people you love the most with the message of His Son.