We can increase our personal happiness today by taking the needed steps to become more holy.
Photo by Yoel J Gonzalez
“Keeping the commandments makes you happier.” At times, this may feel like a line said by well-meaning parents and leaders simply because they want us to improve our behavior. In fact, we may think that there are many other ways to increase our happiness. However, in President Henry B. Eyring’s talk “Holiness and the Plan of Happiness,” he teaches that “increasing in holiness [is] the only path to happiness.”
So, how can we increase in holiness? President Eyring sums it up well when he says, “Greater holiness will not come simply by asking for it. It will come by doing what is needed for God to change us.” What is needed for God to change us? Keeping the commandments is one way to continually become better. Daily repentance is another.When we repent daily, we are able to continually become a little better. This effort, over time, allows us to change and become more holy.
What are the results of greater holiness? President Eyring shares the story of a woman whose husband passed away. A few weeks after her husband’s death, this woman came and gave a gift to the Eyring family. The woman said, “I expected that I would feel sad and lonely. I feel so happy. Do you think that’s all right?” President Eyring responded that those feelings of happiness were a gift because she had served faithfully throughout her life and through that, had become more holy. In other words, her holiness qualified her for that happiness—even in such an unlikely circumstance.
As we strive to be a little better each day, we can attain greater holiness and happiness.
Read more about the happiness that comes from personal holiness in President Henry B. Eyring’s entire talk “Holiness and the Plan of Happiness.”
Source: General Conference
—Auburn Wilcox, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY ALEX ALVAREZ
Find more insights
Discover more about holiness by reading Carol F. McConkie’s talk “The Beauty of Holiness.”
Learn more about happiness by reading President Thomas S. Monson’s talk “The Perfect Path to Happiness.”