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Danger #8 Diagnosing the Culture SUMMARY: Trying to find happiness in something other than God. All the Wrong Places L king for Happiness in

Looking for Happiness in All the Wrong Places Keynote · Happiness Level #3 ALL ABOUT OTHERS GOAL: Loving and serving others EXAMPLES: Loving and serving: Spouse, child, parent, sibling,

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Danger #8 Diagnosing the Culture

SUMMARY: Trying to find happiness in something other than God.

All the Wrong PlacesL king for Happiness in

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF

IN AMERICAN CULTURE…All the Wrong Places

L king for Happiness in

What are some things that many people strive for or constantly focus on because

they think it will make them happy?

The 4 Levels of Happiness

Happiness Level 1

HL2

HL3

HL4

4 Things to Know or Remember about The 4 Levels of Happiness

1. EVERYONEwantstobehappy.(Ifyoumetsomeonewhosaidtheydidn’twanttobehappyyouwouldthinksomethingwaswrongwiththem)

2. Typically,wewilldowhateverwecantoattainthatwhichwethinkwillmakeushappy.

EVERYONE happydidn’t

happy wrong

whateverwecan

4 Things to Know or Remember about The 4 Levels of Happiness

3. AhealthyculturefocusesonHL3&HL4.(AnunhealthyculturefocusesonHL1&HL2whileignoringorcompletelyforgettingaboutHL3&HL4)

4. NoteverythingonHL1-HL3isbad.Godmadeeachlevelofhappinessforustoenjoy.ButifwerelyonHL1-HL3tocompletelyPillourheartswewillultimatelyendupunhappy.

HL3 HL4HL1 HL2

HL3 HL4

bad God

enjoyheartsunhappy

Happiness Level #1

GIMME GIMME GIMMEGOAL: Pleasure and possessions

(a.k.a. Hedonism and materialism)

EXAMPLES: Food, drink, sex, porn, shelter, clothes, cars, TV, phones, partying, stuff, etc.

Happiness is very short-term

EXTRA NOTES:

Focus is entirely on oneselfoneselfshort

Happiness Level #2

I’M THE BESTGOAL: Personal AchievementEXAMPLES: Success in school, success in

sports, success at work, social status (popularity), looks, etc.

Happiness is relatively short-term

Focus is entirely on oneself

Leads to “The Comparison Game”

A lot of people never move beyond HL2

EXTRA NOTES:

oneself

short

“The Comparison Game”

movebeyond

Happiness Level #3

ALL ABOUT OTHERSGOAL: Loving and serving othersEXAMPLES: Loving and serving: Spouse, child, parent,

sibling, relative, friend, teammate, church community, school community, the sick, the poor, the lonely, the spiritually lost, etc.

Happiness is long-term

Focus is on others

Requires a lot of time and effort (can be very hard work!)

Because people are imperfect and mortal, we will never find complete fulfillment at this level.

EXTRA NOTES:

others

long

time effortvery hard work!

imperfect

fulfillment

Happiness Level #4

ALL ABOUT GODGOAL:

EXAMPLES: The saints, praying “Thy will be done”, living with J.O.Y. (Jesus 1st, Others 2nd, You 3rd), being a Jesus Ninja, etc.

Happiness is eternal

Focus is entirely on God, which will naturally lead us to focus on others as well

Fulfills our desires for perfect truth, love, beauty, goodness, and being (home).

Loving and serving God

Requires a lot of time and effort (can be very hard work!)

EXTRA NOTES:

God

otherseternal

time effortvery hard work!

truth love beautygoodness being

The 4 Levels of Happiness

Gimme Gimme Gimme

I’m the Best

All About Others

All About

God

THE DOCTOR’S PRESCRIPTION FOR

All the Wrong PlacesL king for Happiness in

St. Augustine, who pretty much lived his life from HL1-HL4, captures the essence of

Happiness Level 4 with his most famous quote from the first page of Confessions:

“You have us for Yourself, O Lord,

and our will remain

until they rest in .”

made

hearts

restless You

TREATMENT 1:Memorize this quote from St. Augustine so

you remember not to settle for HL1-HL3.

“Remember that you will die.”(“Memento Mori”)

TREATMENT 2:

“Americans are scared to death of death.”

*NOTE: I came across this scene while flipping channels one night. It’s from the movie Straight Outta Compton which, as a whole, is rather unwholesome. However, I thought this scene was pretty powerful and worth reflecting on. This clip has been edited for language.

WHAT IF YOU WERE ONLY GIVEN 6 MONTHS TO LIVE? What would you do? What wouldn’t you do?

“The devil will distract us to death - if we let him.”

distractwe let him

“Sometimes you have to think about your death in order to start

thinking about your life…”

Tikker watch

“AsIcontinuemyadvancethroughmy50’s,IamcertainthatIamclosertomydeaththanIamtomybirth.Ilookatthecalendarandseemybirthdaterollingaround.ButwhichisthedaythatIwilldie?Hmmm.Thinkaboutthatone.Wepassourdeathdateeveryyearwithoutgivingitathought.Butourdeathdateisjustasrealasourbirthdate.ItmightdousgoodtopauseandreElectonthat.”

-DennisJustison

deathlife