In the essay, “We Have No Right To Happiness”, C. S. Lewis discusses, as the title states, if we have a right to happiness. The first example Lewis gives is of a man who wanted to divorce his wife and marry another women. With his first wife, the man was no longer happy, so he sought happiness in another women. Although God tells us in His word that divorce is wrong, this situation still brought up the question if man has a right to his own happiness. One thing that we discussed in class really stuck with me, and that was the point that we have no right to anything.
We are fallen creatures who can do nothing for ourselves, and we deserve nothing but the wrath of God. Because God loves us, however, He sent His son into the world to die on the cross so that we may be freed from our sins. Along with salvation, God has given us everything that we need and everything that we have. We did nothing to get these things, yet God gave them to us because He loves us. The same is true for happiness. Who are we to determine when we should be happy or how we get this happiness? We do not deserve happiness; it is a gift from God just as everything else in our lives.
Lewis compares happiness to height in his essay. If one says that he has the right to happiness, he may as well say that he has the right to be six foot tall. We know that we don’t determine our height, and the same is true of happiness. God will give us these things as he sees fit; we have no say in the matter. For this reason I believe that we have no right to happiness. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t try to find happiness in our lives, in fact we should find joy in everything that we do. After everything that God has done for us, how could we not be joyful? Instead of trying to seek out happiness for ourselves in our lives, we should strive to be grateful to God for the things he has given us because he gives everything that we need.
great post court! i really like how you pointed out in the end that we should find joy in all that we do. its so important to remember that in our everyday lives. i think perhaps if we focus more on that than on trying to determine our own happiness (which we are unable to do), we will find ourselves more happy in the end
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more with what you posted. It is so true that because we are fallen creatures, we do not deserve rights to anything, let alone happiness. I love what you said that we need to seek joy in what God has so graciously provided for us. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with what you have said. From the moment sin entered the world, we deserve nothing. And still God delights in blessing us, because he loves us. However God's primary concern is not that we would be happy all the time, but that we would experience the joy of our salvation and we would know life to the fullest in Christ.
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