The Secret of True Happiness.
By D. T. Bourdeau
Most people fail to secure true happiness because they seek it in a selfish manner, to the neglect of God and their fellow-creatures. This is not only true of the world at large, but also of many professed Christians, whose first aim in their religious exercises is to be happy, to get a blessing. Such get disappointed; for God cannot bless any one in selfishness. It is impossible, in the very nature of things, for a selfish person to be truly happy. True happiness consists in the proper use of all our powers; but a selfish person perverts his powers and does violence thereto in centering them upon himself. Such an one is in antagonism with his benevolence, veneration, and conscience, and bestows upon himself his supreme affections, which he should bestow upon the Author of his existence and of all his blessings, who can bless as no other being can. Such an one, being at war with himself, and having lost his equilibrium with man and with his Maker, cannot enjoy inward peace and true happiness. It is when we are forgetful of self and occupied in seeking to make others happy, and in promoting the glory of God, that God remembers and blesses us, and that we are truly happy. If we love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we shall be as happy when we see them prosper as we are when we are prospered ourselves. Therefore, possessing the principle of equal love for our neighbors in our hearts, when we cause another to prosper in God our happiness is doubled. Hence the more we persuade to accept the truth and prepare for the coming of Christ, the happier will we be. This is the secret of true happiness,—the joy of the Lord in which the redeemed shall enter, in the fullest sense of that expression, when they shall see the full fruit of their labors in souls saved forever in the kingdom of endless glory. Brethren and sisters, let us try more fully this secret of true happiness.