Take Control Of Your Happiness | Joel Osteen

Joel Osteen (0:00)

It's another great day to be alive, and we are so blessed to be here with you today. Victoria, my beautiful wife, and we're just praying for you guys to have a blessed summer.

Victoria Osteen (0:09)

I sure hope you enjoy the podcast. I know I always enjoy these messages. They're so uplifting and encouraging and inspiring. So we hope you enjoy the message today.

Joel Osteen (0:18)

Well, God bless you. It's always a joy to come into your homes, and if you're ever in our area, please stop by and see us. These are the finest people in all of Houston, Texas, right here at Lakewood Church. I promise you, we will make you feel right at home. But thanks for tuning in. Thank you again for coming out. I'd like to start with something funny. I heard about this Southern Baptist man named Bill. He loved to sneak off to the horse races and bet. One day after losing almost all of his money, he noticed a priest step down on the tracks and bless a horse. Sure enough, the horse won first place. The next race, the priest blessed another horse. Once again, that horse won. So Bill went to the ATM machine, took out all of his money. This time, the priest not only touched the horse's forehead, but his eyes, his ears, and all of his hooves. Feeling confident, Bill bet all of his money. But right in the middle of the race, the horse fell over and died. Bill couldn't believe it. Went to the priest and said, what in the world happened? The priest said, that's the problem with you Protestants. You don't know the difference between a blessing and the last rites.

Hold up your Bible, say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess. My mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you.

I want to talk to you today about taking control of your happiness.

Some people are sacrificing their own happiness to try to keep everyone around them happy. They've got to stop by a friend's house to say hello. If not, they may get upset. They've got to work late every night. If not, the boss may be unhappy. They've got to loan this friend money. They're in trouble again. If they don't meet all these demands, rescue this person, keep this person fixed, solve this person's problem, then they'll fall out of somebody's good grace. Somebody won't understand. But God did not call you to keep everyone happy. It's good to be loving, kind, generous, but you are not responsible for other people's happiness. You are responsible to keep yourself happy. Well Joel, if I don't loan them the money, if I don't bail them out again for the 12th time, they may get upset with me.

Maybe it's time for them to be unhappy instead of you to be unhappy. If they get upset, they are not friends, they are manipulators. Your time is too valuable to go through life letting people control you, make you feel guilty if you don't come running every time they call. The easy thing is to just give in and bail them out, don't make any waves, but as long as you rescue them, you are there to keep them fixed and to keep them cheered up, you are not really helping them, you are becoming a crutch, you are enabling their dysfunction. The only way they are really going to get free is for you to not meet all their needs and not come running every time they have a quote, emergency. You have got to put your foot down and say, I love you, but I am not going to let you control me.

I love you, but I am not going to jump every time you call. I love you, but I am not going to feel guilty if I don't meet all of your demands. If somebody is controlling you, it's not their fault, it's your fault. You have to set some boundaries. Quit allowing them to call you all hours of the day and night and dump their problems on you. That's why we have voicemail.

Quit catering to them every time they throw a fit. Ignore it. Quit loaning them the money every time they make poor choices. Don't take on that sense of responsibility. You are not the Savior of the world. We already have a Savior. You're not supposed to keep everyone happy, everyone fixed. If you take on that job, the one person who will not be happy is you.