It’s fascinating how modern research tends to confirm biblical principles. For example, a recent study by a group called PsychTests found that people who are self-serving and interested primarily in looking out for themselves are more likely to be miserable. Analyzing data from more than twelve thousand people who took an emotional intelligence test, researchers found that self-focused people tend to have a cynical view of life, they feel awkward showing affection, they have more problems controlling their temper, and they’re less satisfied with life.¹

Fortune magazine ran an article with a similar emphasis. The headline said: “The ‘Age of Selfishness’ Is Making Us Sick, Single, and Miserable.”

The Bible told us that long ago. The apostle Peter wrote, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right” (1 Peter 3:10-12, NLT).

One of the most significant reasons we may be unhappy is because we have our minds on ourselves too often and not on the Lord or on others. That’s a lesson we learn in the Beatitudes.

Before going further, let me say something about the Beatitudes (biblical pronouncements that begin with the word blessed). There are many of them scattered through the Bible. We tend to focus on the ones in Matthew 5, and for good reason—those were the first words of our Lord’s inaugural sermon at the beginning of His ministry. But the word blessed is found in other passages too.

I want to show you four beatitudes about the joy of selfless service, starting with two from our primary passage in the Sermon on the Mount.

Be Merciful – Matthew 5:7

Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). One English version says, “Happy are the people who help other people and who forgive them. God will forgive people like that” (EASY). The translators captured the spirit of showing mercy to others. It’s helping them and forgiving them.

Some time ago, Kameron Smith was fleeing the police in New York when he lost control of his car. It slammed into the home of Jennifer Smith (no relation), a former deputy prosecutor. No one was hurt, but the house was damaged. Jennifer forgave the man, who appeared genuinely remorseful. “I think he’s a decent human being who just made a mistake,” she said. “And I just didn’t want this following him for the rest of his life.”

Jennifer learned Kameron was a veteran, and in the end she was able to fix up her home and build a nice addition. The two have been talking on-and-off since then, and Jennifer has even hired him to do some yardwork. “I’m a lot happier now,” she told a reporter.

As for Kameron, he said this about receiving mercy: “It was just totally unexpected. It’s a blessing.”²

Forgiving other people and helping them! It makes us a lot happier. It’s a blessing—a beatitude to both us and them.

Be a Peacemaker – Matthew 5:9

In the same passage, Jesus said, “Happy are the people who bring people together to be friends. God will call them his children” (Matthew 5:9, EASY). Sometimes we have the opportunity to help people resolve their differences. It might be our kids on the playground or two family members who have gotten sideways with each other. Perhaps a little conflict is brewing at church. Can you reduce the tension?

Our attitude and words will either make things better or worse. If we can exercise understanding, patience, cheerfulness, and an amiable spirit, it will lower the temperature. The book of Proverbs is full of verses about this. Proverbs 12:18 says, “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (NIV). Proverbs 15:18 says, “A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel” (NIV).

When did you last calm a quarrel? Is a squabble starting to seethe somewhere around you? Perhaps you can be a peacemaker. Happy are those who bring people together to be friends!

Help the Weak – Psalm 41:1

Psalm 41:1 is an example of a beatitude outside of Matthew 5. The psalmist said, “Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble” (NIV). The selfless person is one who feels compassion and concern for someone who is weak in body, mind, or spirit.

On a charity’s website Marie Sherlock described her experience with a volunteer organization. She said that during 2022 she began making sack lunches for the homeless through a social services organization in Portland, Oregon. She and four friends still gather every Friday, don plastic gloves, and make sandwiches and snacks for the needy. On each bag is a hand-written message: “You are Loved.” Marie said she always comes away with a “warm and fuzzy” feeling.

After a bit of research, she learned that warm and fuzzy feeling is called “helper’s high.” It comes to people who volunteer their time and talents to helping others, and it includes benefits such as reduced anxiety, more energy, and better sleep.³

That’s something of what the Bible calls “blessed.” It’s a reward for those who help the needy.

Do What’s Right – Psalm 106:3

Selfless people also receive a happy blessing simply by doing what is right. Psalm 106:3 says, “Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right” (NIV). In her book It’s My Turn Ruth Bell Graham, who grew up in a missionary home, described a 28-year-old missionary in China who was approached by an oil company. The company had been looking to hire a manager for their new operations in Asia. They wanted someone young, a university graduate with a command of the local language. The missionary had the qualifications.

The oil company offered him a huge salary, but the young man turned it down. They offered him even more, and again he turned it down. Finally the oil representative said, “What will it take?”

“It’s not a question of salary,” the young missionary replied. “The salary is tremendous. The trouble is with the job. The job is too little. I feel God has called me to preach the Gospel of Christ. I should be a fool to quit preaching in order to sell oil.”⁴

There’s nothing wrong, of course, about working for an oil company if that’s what God calls you to do. But the Lord has a unique plan for each of us, and true happiness is found only within the guardrails of that plan. That’s where we can give ourselves selflessly in His service for the good of others.

In his book on happiness, Randy Alcorn quotes these lines from a novel he read: “When you’re unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself. And you get to take yourself oh so very seriously. Your truly happy people…don’t think about themselves very much. Your unhappy person resents it when you try to cheer him up, because that means he has to stop dwellin’ on himself…. Unhappiness is the ultimate form o’ self-indulgence.”⁵

Focusing on others helps us feel joy. Jesus’ prescription for happiness is very different than the world’s description, and the Bible’s Beatitudes are beautiful attitudes for us to display to the world.

George Washington Carver had a hard life, having been born into slavery on a Missouri plantation in 1864. He faced racism and prejudice throughout his life. Yet he became a famous botanist, educator, and spokesman for the Gospel. His tombstone at the Tuskegee Institute reads: “A life that stood out as a gospel of self-forgetting service. He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world.”

Jesus tells us to be happy in His own Jesus-like way. Happy people are focused on others. We find joy and fulfillment in meeting other people’s needs: by being merciful through helping others and forgiving them, by being peacemakers and calming quarrels that are brewing around us, by helping someone who is weak, and by doing what is right.

If you want to be happier this month, forget about making yourself happy. Make someone else happy. Focus on the happiness of your spouse, sibling, friend, acquaintance, coworker, or fellow church member. You’ll be blessed by being a blessing.

 Citations:

[1] “Self-Centered People Are Unhappy People–New Study Digs Into the Personality of Egoists,” Cision, April 12, 2022.

² Dylan Segelbaum, “He Crashed Into Her Home in York County,” York Daily Record, August 13, 2019.

³ Marie Sherlock, “The Joys of Team Volunteering,” Next Avenue, September 20, 2024.

⁴ Ruth Bell Graham, It’s My Turn (Old Tappen, NJ: F. H. Revell, 1982), 20-21.

⁵ Randy Alcorn, Happiness (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2015), 354.