God’s kind of happiness, as defined in the Beatitudes of our Lord, represents a radical reversal of almost everything we have ever been taught about the meaning of happiness! Look at the Beatitudes again and contrast them with what we have been taught.

"Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor." We have always been taught to define happiness in terms of wealth.

"Happy are those who mourn." We have been taught that happiness means never experiencing anything that causes us grief.

"Happy are those who are humble." We have been taught that happiness is defined in terms of aggression and the competitive spirit.

"Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires." We have been taught that happiness lies in the desire to conform to the values of our own society.

"Happy are those who are merciful to others." We have been taught that the quality of mercy is a sign of weakness.

"Happy are the pure in heart." Tell that one to the guys and gals at work!

"Happy are those who work for peace." We have been taught that happiness is defined in terms of preparedness for war.

"Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires." We have tended to call such people fools or fanatics!

"Happy are you when people insult you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers." We tend to say, "Don’t get mad, get even!"

We say it again: God’s kind of happiness reverses almost everything we have been taught about happiness. But if one of us has to be wrong — either us or God — you can be sure that it isn’t God.