“I just want to be happy.” It’s a phrase I hear tossed around a lot these days. But do the people using it understand what they are asking for? What is more important: to be happy or content? What does it mean to be happy versus content?
Happiness is an emotion. It is a temporary feeling that we get when we experience something that makes us feel good. You’re happy when that long-lost friend calls you on the phone, or you come home, and your puppy is waiting for you at the door.
Contentment, on the other hand, runs much deeper. It is a peace that extends beyond happiness and affects your soul. Being content means you are at peace with your circumstances, regardless of how you feel or if things are going your way.
While happiness can come and go, often giving way to anger, fear, or sadness, contentment transcends these emotions. The more content you are, the more in command of your feelings you become. Well, that’s how it works for me.
The more content I am, the less I feel angry, bitter, or sad. And while it is true that being content sometimes reduces the intensity of happiness and joy, I think I prefer to be content over happy any day.
I’m cool with finding that peace in my soul and letting it dictate my emotional well-being. God is the source of my contentment. That’s the honest answer. As long as I stay focused on God—good and bad, rain and shine—it will work itself out.
As it says in Hebrews 13:5, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Heb. 13:5 ESV). In other words, be content with what you have because the Lord has your back.
Are you a happiness person or a contentment person? Why do you feel drawn to one over the other? I would love to hear your story.
—Daniel