Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. Abraham Lincoln

One of the strangest things to me is the high percentage of unhappy people who identify themselves as Christians. Common sense dictates that Christians should be the happiest people in the world. If we truly believe that God really did create the universe, that Jesus really is His son, and that He really died for our sins so that we might have a hope of being in Heaven forever, then why aren't we happier?

I heard of a mother of six who would send her children back to their rooms if they came to breakfast in a bad mood. This may seem mean but, as she reasoned, in a family of eight there are not enough days in the week for each member to spread their gloom for just one day. It wasn't that she was unsympathetic to true sorrow or real problems, but she refused to put up with whiny behavior simply because things were not going someone's way.

Zig Ziglar tells of a boss who got a speeding ticket coming back from lunch. He took it out on his sales supervisr who then snapped at his secretary. The secretary chewed out the receptionist who later that evening jumped all over her twelve year old son. The son, being at the bottom of the power chain, went and kicked their cat. After relating this story, Mr. Ziglar asked the pertinent question: 'Wouldn't it have been simpler if the boss had just kicked the receptionist's cat in the first place?"

Clearly, we all are affected by the bad moods of others - they are highly contagious. Perhaps the next time we are a bit grumpy and are tempted to share our bad mood with an innocent bystander, we should instead pause for a moment of prayer and remember this inspired encouragement given by the Apostle Paul:

Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all, the Lord is near. Philippians 4:4-5 (NIV)