Why Can't You Make Yourself Happy?

One of the greatest lessons I've learned is that you can't be both selfish and happy. I know this is true through my own personal experience, but more importantly, the Bible has some things to say about the attitude we should have about "self."

For example, love is not selfish. In the Amplified Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:5 says, "…Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking...." In 1 Corinthians 15:31, the apostle Paul said, "…I die daily [I face death every day and die to self]" (AMPC), which basically means he was not self-seeking but instead focused on doing what God called him to do with his life.

There are also scriptures that teach us the importance of having self-control. Galatians 5:23 lists self-control as a fruit of the Spirit, and 2 Timothy 1:7 says that in Christ, we have a spirit "of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control." If you've lived very long, you realize that not being selfish requires self-control, because we're all born with a human nature that is selfish. Think about how babies act: they are only concerned with what they need and usually cry when they don't get their way.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/i-want-to-be-a-happy-person-but-how-158166/#q1RSHXjrGGKy9mfC.99