Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
1 20 18
THE WAY
OF HAPPINESS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
TH E WAY O F HAPPI N E S S
!"#2
Vol. 99, No. 1 2018 ENGLISH
˙
The Bible says: “Happy are those who are blameless in their way.”
—Psalm 119:1.
These seven articles discuss sound, time-tested
principles that contribute in a big way to happiness.
s
Would you welcome more
Visit www.jw.org, or send your request to one
information or a free home
of the addresses above.
Bible study?
This publication is not for sale. It is provided as part of a worldwide Bible educational work supported by voluntary
donations. To make a donation, please visit www.jw.org. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the modern-
language New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
TH E WAY O F HAPPI N E S S
3
TH E WAY O F HAPPI N E S S
CONTENTMENT
AND GENEROSITY
PHYSICAL
HEALTH AND
RESILIENCE
CHRONIC ILL HEALTH OR DISABILITY CAN HAVE DO NOT POLLUTE YOUR BODY. “Let us cleanse
A MAJOR IMPACT ON A PERSON’S LIFE. After be- ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit.”
coming physically paralyzed, a once active and (2 Corinthians 7:1) People defile their bodies
healthy man named Ulf said: “I became deeply de- when they chew or smoke tobacco or abuse alco-
pressed. My strength, courage, and power drained hol or drugs. Smoking, for example, “leads to dis-
away . . . I felt ‘destroyed.’ ” ease and disability and harms nearly every organ
Ulf’s experience reminds us that none of us of the body,” says the U.S. Centers for Disease
have complete control over our health. Still, we Control and Prevention.
can take reasonable measures to reduce the risk VIEW YOUR BODY AND YOUR LIFE AS PRE-
of ill health. But what if our health deteriorates? CIOUS GIFTS. “By [God] we have life and move
Does that doom us to unhappiness? Not at all, as and exist.” (Acts 17:28) Appreciating that fact
we shall see. First, though, let us consider some moves us to avoid taking needless risks, whether
principles that promote good health. we are at work, driving, or choosing our recre-
BE “MODERATE IN HABITS.” (1 Timothy 3:2, 11) ation. A momentary thrill is not worth a life of
Habitually eating or drinking to excess is obvi- disability!
ously bad for our health—not to mention our CONTROL NEGATIVE EMOTIONS. Your mind and
finances! “Do not be among those who drink too body are closely linked. So try to avoid undue
much wine, among those who gorge themselves anxiety, unbridled anger, envy, and other harmful
on meat, for a drunkard and a glutton will come to emotions. “Let go of anger and abandon rage,”
poverty.”—Proverbs 23:20, 21. says Psalm 37:8. We also read: “Never be anxious
LOVE
HUMANS CRAVE LOVE. No marriage, family, or have indecently, does not look for its own inter-
friendship can thrive without it. It stands to rea- ests, does not become provoked. It does not keep
son, therefore, that love is essential to mental account of the injury. It does not rejoice over un-
health and happiness. What, though, is meant by righteousness, but rejoices with the truth. It bears
“love”? all things, . . . hopes all things, endures all things.
The love referred to here is not romantic love, Love never fails.”—1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
which, of course, has its place. Rather, it is a supe- Such love “never fails” in that it will never cease
rior form of love that causes a person to show to exist. Indeed, it can grow stronger over time.
sincere concern for the welfare of others, even And because it is patient, kind, and forgiving, it is
putting them before self. It is love that is guided “a perfect bond of union.” (Colossians 3:14)
by godly principles but is by no means devoid of Hence, relationships bound by such love are both
warmth and feeling. secure and happy despite the imperfections of the
A beautiful description of love states: “Love individuals. For example, consider the marriage
is patient and kind. Love is not jealous. It does union.
not brag, does not get puffed up, does not be-
PURPOSE IN LIFE
HUMANS ARE UNIQUE IN MANY WAYS After some serious reflection, I concluded that
—WE WRITE, WE PAINT, WE CREATE, AND WE there must be a Creator.”
THINK ABOUT LIFE’S BIG QUESTIONS: Why does The quest for life’s purpose led Alexei to ex-
the universe exist? How did we come to be? What amine the Bible. Later, his wife, a medical doctor
is the purpose of life? What does the future hold? who was also an atheist, studied the Bible as well
Some people shy away from those questions, —initially to prove her husband wrong! Now, how-
thinking that the answers are beyond us. Others ever, both firmly believe in God and understand
say that such questions are pointless because life his purpose for humankind as explained in the
is a product of mindless evolution. “There are no Scriptures.
gods, no purposes,” claimed professor of history PLASMA SCIENTIST DR. HUABI YIN. Huabi Yin
and biology William Provine. He added: “There is studied physics, and for many years, she did re-
no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate search on plasma. Considered the fourth state of
meaning in life.” matter, plasma (as in the sun) is composed large-
Some people, however, consider that fatalistic ly of electrons and positive ions.
outlook unacceptable. They see a universe that is “Whenever we scientists study natural phenom-
governed by precise, elegant, mathematical laws. ena,” says Huabi, “we always find a high degree of
They marvel at the impressive designs in nature, order, which is a result of precise laws. ‘How did
some of which humans try to mimic in man-made these laws arise?’ I wondered. ‘If even a simple
products. And everyday experience tells them that cooking fire must be carefully controlled, who is
complex, highly functional designs point to intelli- responsible for the laws that regulate the sun?’
gence, not undirected forces. In time, I concluded that the first statement in the
Such reasoning has moved some evolutionists Bible is the most logical answer: ‘In the beginning
to reconsider their position. Note the following God created the heavens and the earth.’ ”—Gene-
two examples. sis 1:1.
NEUROSURGEON DR. ALEXEI MARNOV. “The Science, to be sure, has shed light on many
schools I attended taught atheism and evolution,” “how” questions, such as: How do brain cells
he said. “Anyone believing in God was considered work? And how does the sun generate heat and
uninformed.” In 1990, however, his thinking began light? But as Alexei and Huabi discovered, the Bi-
to change. ble answers the more important “why” questions:
“I have always tried to understand the logical Why does the universe exist? Why is it governed
reason for things,” he explains, “including the hu- by laws? And why do we exist?
man brain. This amazing organ has rightly been Regarding the earth, the Bible says: “[God]
called the most complex structure in the known did not create it simply for nothing, but formed it
universe. But was the brain designed to gain to be inhabited.” (Isaiah 45:18) Yes, God has a
knowledge and skills and then die? This seemed purpose for the earth, and as the next article will
pointless, unreasonable. So I began to wonder: show, that purpose is closely related to our hope
‘Why are we here? What is the purpose of life?’ for the future.
LEARN MORE
At jw.org you will be able to access or down- ˙ Your Family Can Be Happy
load a variety of Bibles and a wide array of ˙ Lasting Peace and Happiness
other publications—all at no cost. The many —How to Find Them
titles include the following: ˙ Good News From God!
s n p
Free downloads Bible available
of this magazine online in over Visit www.jw.org,
o
171107
g18.1-E