{"id":52128,"date":"2020-02-24T00:27:55","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T06:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/?p=52128"},"modified":"2025-08-06T12:36:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T17:36:20","slug":"happy-loving-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/happy-loving-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy, Loving People"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Happy, loving people are people who share the most love.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><i>&#8220;Make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life.&#8221; <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bible.com\/bible\/116\/2pe.1.5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>2 Peter 1:5<\/i><\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_52052\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52052\" style=\"width: 471px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"\/josh.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/blog_bridging-the-gap_love_happy-loving-people\"><img alt=\"Happy, loving people\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-52171\" src=\"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2020\/02\/blog_bridging-the-gap_love_happy-loving-people.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"471\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2020\/02\/blog_bridging-the-gap_love_happy-loving-people.jpeg 1000w, https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2020\/02\/blog_bridging-the-gap_love_happy-loving-people.jpeg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2020\/02\/blog_bridging-the-gap_love_happy-loving-people.jpeg?resize=768,512 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 471px) 100vw, 471px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-52052\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bridging the Gap blog #hurthealedwhole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span class=\"s1\">For 50+ years, <a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/about-us\/joshs-bio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span class=\"s2\">Josh McDowell<\/span><\/a> Ministry has been leading seekers into a deeper knowledge of God\u2019s truth and power. We offer you our accumulated knowledge and <a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/resources\/apologetics\/research\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span class=\"s2\">research<\/span><\/a> to help you find truth and encouragement to live a healthy and whole life in Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Happy, Loving People?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Would any of these famous, powerful, and wealthy people make the list of the happiest people in the history of the world?<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org\/adolf-hitler\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adolph Hitler<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/russia\/joseph-stalin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joseph Stalin<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/people-cultures-in-the-bible\/people-in-the-bible\/how-bad-was-jezebel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Queen Jezebel<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/40277-emperor-nero-facts.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nero<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Not quite. And for one very good reason: Their lives were characterized by hate, and a hateful person is never a happy person. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think about it. The happiest people you know are those who love other people. That\u2019s the way it works.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>God commands us to love one another because He knows that hate diminishes our ability to love, and love expands it. He knows that people who act in love experience love twice: once when they give it away, and again when they receive it back. He knows that happy, loving people radiate love, which brings His light and joy to the world.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When we choose to obey God, and focus on reflecting His love to others, He blesses us with joy and happiness. <\/span>God is always pleased when we focus on loving others.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><b>REFLECT: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Who are the happiest people you know? Are their lives characterized by hate or love?<\/span><br \/>\n<b>ACT: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do something loving for a friend or family member, and note how it makes you feel.\u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<b>PRAY:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cYour love for me, God, makes me happy. And sharing Your love with others makes me happy because it pleases You. Help me to grow in my ability to selflessly love others. Help people to see Your reflection in me, so that I can tell them about Your love.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>NEXT STEPS:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Join us in our February <a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/category\/bridging-the-gap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Bridging the Gap <\/em><\/a>posts as we explore the topic of love.<br \/>\n<em>Do we really know what &#8220;love&#8221; is, and how to show it?<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s2\"><span class=\"s2\">Catch up on our <a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/category\/journey-together\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span class=\"s3\"><i>Journey Together<\/i><\/span><\/a> posts. Experience God in a deeper way!<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn how to begin a personal relationship with God. Start <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/resources\/spiritual-growth\/know-god\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h6><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adapted from, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/daily-devo\/love-can-make-you-happy-3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Love Can Make You Happy<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, February 14,\u00a0 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/josh.org\/daily-devo\/dances-with-angels\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One-Year Book of Josh McDowell\u2019s Youth Devotions<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u00a9 1996, 2003, 2019 Josh McDowell Ministry. All rights reserved. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Holy Bible<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission.<\/span><\/i><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy, loving people are people who share the most love. &#8220;Make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life.&#8221; 2 Peter 1:5 For 50+ years, Josh McDowell Ministry has been leading seekers into a deeper knowledge of God\u2019s truth and power. We offer you our accumulated knowledge and research to help [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23327,"featured_media":52171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"God commands us to love; he knows that hate hurts us and love enriches us. He knows that people who act in love are happy people. Read more >>","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[60,184,62],"translator":[],"blog-author":[76],"class_list":["post-52128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bridging-the-gap","tag-hurthealedwhole","tag-god","tag-love","blog-author-josh-mcdowell"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2020\/02\/blog_bridging-the-gap_love_happy-loving-people.jpeg","meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52128"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92775,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52128\/revisions\/92775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52128"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/translator?post=52128"},{"taxonomy":"blog-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-author?post=52128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}