Managing your moods is no small part of the art of living. There are healthy ways to manage your mood, like the advice from the song in “Hello, Dolly,” “Put on your Sunday clothes there’s lots of world out there.” Music affects mood too. If I’m in a blue jeans mood, I turn to Bluegrass. There are also dangerous ways to alter your mood, like drugs and alcohol. Understanding and managing your moods is also an important part of maturing your relationship with God.
In a nation dedicated to “the pursuit of happiness,” it sounds terrible to say we shouldn’t always be happy but it’s very biblical. Read the Gospels, Jesus didn’t always have a smile plastered on His face. Dr. C.F.W. Walther wrote, “Do not forget that the blessedness of Christians does not consist in pleasant feelings, but in their assurance that in spite of the bitterest feelings imaginable they are accepted with God and in their dying hour will be received into heaven. That is indeed great blessedness.” (Law and Gospel, 312)
Tomorrow the church shifts from Christmas and Epiphany to Lent. The “alleluias” are not sung. We put ourselves into a pensive mood. Christ suffered for us. If you are pursing eternal happiness, put on the mood of repentance.
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