There was one day after I became a follower of Christ, someone at my church told me that happiness was different from joy. He told me that joy is one notch higher than happiness. There is happiness. Then there is more happiness, or joy. Another time I heard someone say that happiness is a feeling that comes and goes, but not joy. Still another said that happiness is worldly, but joy is divine. What about you? What do you think?
The words “happy” or “happiness,” often translated as “glad” or “gladness,” appear 30 times in the Bible. In contrast, “joy” or “rejoice” appears well over 300 times. According to the dictionary, happiness is “a state of well-being; a pleasurable or satisfying experience,” while joy is “a state of feeling great delight; to be glad.” Both words refer to an emotion that feels good. Just thinking about the two words makes me smile. We may insist that the two words mean different things in our own minds, and there is no crime for doing that. But is there a difference between the two words? A better question is do the two words mean different things in the Bible?
Whenever I run into a question like this, I set myself on a mission to see if there are places in the Bible where both words appear together in the same chapter, or even better, in the same verse, and to observe how they are used together. Do they seem to mean different things? Or the same thing? So, the question is did I find any? And the answer is yes. Would you believe it if I were to tell you I found many examples? Not only that, but at least from my own observation, the two words appear to be synonymous. Check it out.
Deuteronomy 28:47 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things..."
Proverbs 23:24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.
Proverbs 24:17
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles...
Psalm 32:11
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Luke 1:14
“You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth."
Luke 6:23 “Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven."
In my humble opinion, there seems to be no good reason why we must make a distinction between the two words. Whenever we see the words “happy” and “joyful” throughout the Bible, it is okay for us to understand that the two words mean being happy, or joyful. They are interchangeable!
There is happiness, there is joy, because Christ gives to us true happiness, or joy. Christ is the true joy or happiness. “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 1:4). To God be the glory forever and forever. Amen.