I am a maximizer. My husband jokingly calls me Molly the maximizer. I want to be extremely productive when necessary, so that I can relax at the right time. As a believer, my desire is to do things that are eternally significant, not just practical. But there are some days where I have no idea where to start because so much has to be done. Bible? Prayer? Bills? clean house?study for Bible Study? scheduling? homeschooling? devotions with the kids? exercise? Of course when everything seems too overwhelming there is always escaping to solitaire or Netflix.
We were not created to live this way. Knowing we would be distracted, frustrated and discouraged, Jesus tells us to “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). That’s it? Yes – that’s it.
This isn’t the only time Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God. In fact, many passages describe it’s qualities and characteristics (Mk 4:11, Lk 8:10 , Mt 19:24, Mk 9:1, 47, 10:23-25, Lk 6:20, Lk 9:27, 62 13:18, 17:20-21 Jn 3:3, 5). However, we find a powerful definition in Romans 14:17, which says, “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
If Jesus asks us to seek first the kingdom of God, we are to seek first righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Seeking righteousness, joy and peace are not exclusive to Christianity. Most people say they want to be a good person, the pursuit of joy or happiness is pretty much written into U.S. history and some will go around the world find peace and to eliminate stress. The last part of this verse is significant. Outside of the Holy Spirit, we can get an appearance of righteousness, peace and joy. But appearances can lie.
False Righteousness
There is a false righteousness causing us to think we are being responsible. It is outward righteousness where we do right things without having the right heart. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are inward attitudes of the heart (Gal 5:22-23), but we take good works and call them fruit. Good works are not bad, but if they are only outward, this is false righteousness.
Legalism (making our own rules and morals outside of Scripture) is also a false righteousness apart from the Holy Spirit. We may do righteous acts because we are created in God’s image. But no one can have a truly righteous heart apart from Jesus.
False Peace
Peace can be counterfeited as well. Peace is not the absence of conflict or bad circumstances, but it is what the Holy Spirit gives in our hearts in the midst of it. We overly-control outward circumstances by reducing stress to make our life calm, comfortable, and free from hassle. We also control people either by eliminating friendships with those who cause us stress or by using anger or guilt to manipulate them. We refuse to confront and call it peace, or we confront until the other person is silenced and call it peace. Trying to have peaceful circumstances isn’t necessarily wrong, but it is not true peace. Peace in the Holy Spirit is what He gives us inside.
False Joy
Lastly, there is a false joy. Temporal joy comes from looking to things or people to make us happy. We may call this happiness vs. joy. This is basically idolatry, believing that I can get from someone or something the joy that is only found in Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
There is also a joy-by-choice or an actor joy. This mindset says, “I’m going to choose joy by pasting a smile on my face, pretending to have a good attitude about my crummy circumstances even though I feel awful inside.” True joy/happiness once again is inside of us. Jesus says “the kingdom of God is within you.”
The Counterfeit Kingdom
The enemy wants to make us rely on counterfeits, in our own strength and then says “That’s it. That’s the kingdom of God”. We were made for righteousness and joy and peace in our hearts. But he whispers, “You are doing the right things (don’t worry about the motives of your heart). You have peace (by manipulating and controlling stress in your circumstances and relationships). You are choosing joy (by pretending to be happy despite how you feel, or by reaching for idols of relationship or things). Then he tells you this is the Christian Life. Believing these lies causes many to be disillusioned by Christianity. The enemy wants us to think that living by our actions, not our hearts is the answer.
Many say if you do the right thing, what you feel doesn’t matter. As with all lies, there is a portion of truth mixed in. Sometimes we have to choose what is right or choose joy or peace despite our circumstances or emotions. But if life is characterized by living this way continually, we are not seeking first the kingdom of God, but a counterfeit man-made religion. We are not living from our hearts, but instead living like robots in our own strength.
The other lie sell is that we should emphasize one of these things over the other. This is personal for me, as I’ve lived long with the mindset that righteousness is more important than peace or joy, and that doing good things is much more important than what is going on inside of my heart. Jesus warns against this in Mt 23:26.
Holiness or Happiness?
You may have heard, “God wants your holiness more than your happiness.” When you look into Scripture, the emphasis is not that they are mutually exclusive but of equal importance and in truth, one actually leads to the other.
There are two false ways of thinking about holiness and happiness. One is that God cares less about my happiness than He does about my holiness. The other is that God wants me to be happy; therefore I should do what I desire and strive to get what I want.
The word blessed (makarios) in the New Testament means happy. Given how many times Jesus talks about blessing, as well as how many times He blessed people, it is safe to say that yes, Jesus does want us to be happy. Matthew 5 shows us Jesus wants us to be blessed or happy. Sometimes this happiness does come from gifts that He gives us, both spiritual and physical.
However, happiness or joy that comes from the physical blessings that we so desire – even the blessings that Jesus gives us – doesn’t last. Things or relationships we want or think will make us happy aren’t bad. But if we believe they are going to fulfill us like Jesus Himself, or give us long term joy; disappointment is in store. True happiness or joy in the Holy Spirit comes from experiencing a relationship with Jesus, hearing from Him, and exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit by working alongside of Him on this earth to bring Him glory.
In evaluating these two thought patterns, did an informal study of the words holiness or righteousness and the words rejoice or joy in Scripture. To my surprise – they were fairly evenly matched in emphasis. It would appear that both holiness and happiness are important to God.
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