Can a man/woman truly be happy living a sinful lifestyle?
For example, a friend of ours recently left her husband and is living an adulterous life with a yet to be divorced man. She claims to be happy for the 1st time in many years. Everything looks wonderful in the pictures she paints. This is confusing to me. Can one be 'happy' knowingly living a sinful lifestyle, and is this a good thing?
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Asked February 03 2015
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Anonymous
For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Jennifer Rothnie
Briefly speaking, it is quite easy to be temporarily happy when engaging in sin. Sin is attractive, tempting, and often feels good or seems good for the moment. Yet over time, one realizes that one must engage in more and more sinful activities to feel that same pleasure, and the sin has grievous effect on our relationships with God and others.
This 'happiness' is temporary and built off of lies, vs. joy in the Lord which is founded in promises and truth. Sin leads to death, not life. The pleasure of sin can blind us to its destructive and addicting nature. Sin tempts us to love pleasure and self vs. loving God and others.
While serving God is not always 'happy', it is always joyful and holds the promise of eternal life. Serving sin may be temporarily 'happy', but it cannot be joyful and leads only to death.
For relationships, many go off the feelings of 'chemistry' or how happy/peaceful they feel, vs. nurturing commitment and care regardless of 'feeling'. A true marriage relationship will be an unbreakable covenant, with God as the third strand holding it together.
See also:
https://ebible.com/questions/2884-is-there-a-difference-between-joy-and-happiness
https://ebible.com/questions/214-why-do-so-many-of-us-still-struggle-with-temptation-and-desires-to-sin-if-we-re-not-controlled-by-our-sinful-nature-anymore
https://ebible.com/questions/10119-why-does-it-often-feel-better-to-do-evil-instead-of-good
https://ebible.com/questions/2934-how-can-i-know-if-i-am-in-love
Terrence Simpson
One sin separates us from God. No man can be truly happy without God.