Happiness Through Service to God and Others

A mini-theme from church yesterday, or at least a concept that I heard at least twice, was that we increase in happiness as we try to make other people happy. I even found some quotes on LDS.org to support and strengthen that concept. As the second counsellor of the first presidency under President Benson, Thomas S. Monson said, "happiness comes through serving our Heavenly Father and serving our fellowmen." A quote from President Joseph F. Smith is even more bold: "There is no happiness without service." It would seem that a good way, perhaps the only way, to find happiness is through service to God and others.

This is in harmony with many of the messages we hear at Christmastime, that it is better to give than to receive, and that random acts of kindness, including "Secret Santa" moments, can create warm and lasting memories.

Everyone desires happiness, but ironically, much of the misery in the world comes from seeking happiness in ways that are "contrary to the nature of God; [and] therefore... contrary to the nature of happiness." (Alma 41:11) In the April 1986 General Conference, Jack H. Goaslind said:

Our happiness is diminished by at least two things: sin and adversity. Of the two, sin is the most tragic. ...The suffering that results from sin is most tragic because through our own choices we can choose to avoid it.

We can avoid a good deal of unhappiness by choosing to serve God and keep His commandments rather than "serving ourselves" and rebelling against God's commandments. (Brother? Elder?) Goaslind said, "the commandments are guides to happiness," and I strongly agree. God gave us commandments to guide us along the path of happiness and help us avoid the suffering of sin. Returning to Brother Goaslind's talk, he told us:

The other thing that may diminish our happiness is adversity. ... While we can choose to avoid sin, we usually cannot choose whether we experience adversity. I am convinced if we are to have happiness in our hearts, we must learn how to preserve it, in our hearts, in the midst of trouble and trial.

He then told us a story of a pioneer couple that faced extreme hardship, including the loss of their son.

Now, both the mother and the father experienced the same trials, but the father became withdrawn, cantankerous, and bitter. He stopped going to church, found fault with Church leaders. He became caught up in his own miseries, and the light of Christ grew dimmer and dimmer in his life. 

On the other hand, the mother’s faith increased. Each new problem seemed to make her stronger. She became an angel of mercy—filled with empathy, compassion, and charity. She was a light to those around her. Her family gravitated toward her and looked to her as their leader. She was happy; he was miserable.

I want to highlight the attributes the mother was said to have been filled with, "empathy, compassion, and charity." These are divine attributes that often inspire giving Christlike service to others. I may be going out on a limb here, but I'd guess that the mother experienced happiness despite her trials partly because she gave service to others.

Service to God and service to others seem to be the recommended method of gaining genuine, lasting happiness. This holiday season, I'm going to look for opportunities to serve others, and I'm going to try to serve God by keeping His other commandments as well. I expect that that will increase the happiness of others, and that will, in turn, increase my happiness as well.