{"id":5077,"date":"2025-01-08T08:30:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T00:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/?p=5077"},"modified":"2025-01-08T08:28:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T00:28:50","slug":"how-holiness-leads-to-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/2025\/01\/how-holiness-leads-to-happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"How Holiness Leads to Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"How
Image from Canva Pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Have you ever felt afraid that once you strive for holiness, you will eventually risk losing your happiness?<\/strong> Holiness is not a word that our culture today seems to be fond of. It\u2019s a word that seems to take away all the fun and pleasure from life. We associate it with suffering, difficulty and pain.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this is the reason many people can\u2019t understand why someone would choose to be a priest or a nun. Why choose to live such a harsh and joyless life? This seems to be the prevailing thought about the religious life.<\/p>\n

Even when it comes to holiness for those not called to the religious vocation, a holy life is often equated to a bland and boring life. It\u2019s a life where you are forbidden to do all the things that the world considers exciting and delightful.<\/p>\n

In truth, however, it is by being holy that we can achieve true happiness.<\/p>\n

If you are searching for happiness, here\u2019s how holiness can help you find it:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Happiness in God<\/h3>\n

Holiness leads you to God. And only in God can we find true and lasting happiness.<\/p>\n

Material things and excitement in earthly activities and pleasures can give us fleeting delight. But this kind of feeling always fades away.<\/p>\n

To be truly happy, we must draw near to Him who is the Source of true happiness. Those who find Him find peace, contentment and joy, the kind of joy that lasts forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see God created you and I to be happy in this life and the next\u2026 He cares for you. He watches your every move. There\u2019s no one that loves you (who) can do that.\u201d \u2013 Mother Angelica<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2. Healthy relationships<\/h3>\n

We often strive to have a good relationship with the people we love. Despite that, however, we find even our best efforts fail. We hurt the ones we love the most. And we ruin even the best relationships we thought we had.<\/p>\n

This is where striving for holiness helps. When we strive for holiness, we enter a transformation that changes us for the better. It makes us more patient and gentle. It enables us to endure difficult times.<\/p>\n

Holiness equips us to love others, extending our limited capacities and healing the inner wounds that keep us from loving and being loved.<\/p>\n

3. Freedom from the burden of sin<\/h3>\n

Have you ever thought about the weight of the sins in your life? They burden your heart, mind and soul. You may not have realized it, but they give you stress and take away your peace.<\/p>\n

Think about the sin of envy. Envying others weighs heavily upon your heart and keeps you from enjoying the life you have.<\/p>\n

Or think about wrath and the desire for revenge. It imprisons you and makes your heart heavy with anger.<\/p>\n

Holiness helps you to forgive. It frees you from the sins that cling heavily upon your soul.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.\u201d \u2013 Lewis B. Smedes<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

4. A life of meaning and purpose<\/h3>\n

Holy people may not be exempt from life\u2019s difficulties, but they are never without purpose.<\/p>\n

A life of holiness is a life that is meaningful. It is a life dedicated to the highest ideals and aims for the greatest good.<\/p>\n

Through holiness, one finds meaning and fulfillment in life.<\/p>\n

5. Strength in trials<\/h3>\n

Happiness need not disappear when challenging times come. For those who seek to be holy, they find strength even in the most difficult times.<\/p>\n

With this strength comes hope and courage. With it comes also the kind of happiness borne out of peace.<\/p>\n

Seeking Happiness<\/h2>\n

\u201cHow is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you.\u201d \u2013 St. Augustine<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To seek for happiness is to seek for God. And the road that leads us to Him is the road of holiness. Let us not be afraid therefore of being holy.<\/p>\n

True holiness is not something aimed to take away all that is good and beautiful in this life. It is in fact the very thing that will lead us to true happiness and peace.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return.\u201d \u2013 Pope Benedict XVI<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Jocelyn Soriano is the author of To Love an Invisible God.<\/strong><\/a> \u201cIs it really possible to love a God we cannot even see?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Get the book from Amazon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Get my books from other digital stores.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

You may also want to read \u201cCan You Imagine the Ecstasy of the Holy Saints?\u201d <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever felt afraid that once you strive for holiness, you will eventually risk losing your happiness? Holiness is not a word that our culture today seems to be fond of. It\u2019s a word that seems to take away all the fun and pleasure from life. We associate it with suffering, difficulty and pain. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4905,"featured_media":5083,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[819],"tags":[498,24,623,6,27],"class_list":["post-5077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-joy","tag-happiness","tag-holiness","tag-joy","tag-relationships","tag-spiritual-growth"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Holiness Leads to Happiness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Have you ever felt afraid that once you strive for holiness, you will eventually risk losing your happiness?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/2025\/01\/how-holiness-leads-to-happiness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Holiness Leads to Happiness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Have you ever felt afraid that once you strive for holiness, you will eventually risk losing your happiness?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/2025\/01\/how-holiness-leads-to-happiness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beloved\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-08T00:30:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-08T00:28:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1689\/2024\/12\/2025-Patheos-1200x628-1-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jocelyn Soriano\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jocelyn Soriano\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/2025\/01\/how-holiness-leads-to-happiness\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/2025\/01\/how-holiness-leads-to-happiness\/\",\"name\":\"How Holiness Leads to Happiness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-08T00:30:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-08T00:28:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/#\/schema\/person\/3b9c6cc563f0b344d1b4f15610bb9fb6\"},\"description\":\"Have you ever felt afraid that once you strive for holiness, you will eventually risk losing your happiness?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/2025\/01\/how-holiness-leads-to-happiness\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/2025\/01\/how-holiness-leads-to-happiness\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/2025\/01\/how-holiness-leads-to-happiness\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Holiness Leads to Happiness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/\",\"name\":\"Beloved\",\"description\":\"Beloved speaks about relationships, our need for intimacy and our most important calling to love and to be loved by God.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/#\/schema\/person\/3b9c6cc563f0b344d1b4f15610bb9fb6\",\"name\":\"Jocelyn Soriano\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/beloved\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f852773a16c19053261906a0cd8d8cd?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f852773a16c19053261906a0cd8d8cd?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jocelyn Soriano\"},\"description\":\"Jocelyn Soriano is an author, poet, and book reviewer. 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