Hoping for Happiness

I grew up believing and repeating the mantra that God is more interested in our holiness than our happiness. But that idea reduces both holiness and happiness. The more profound truth, which Barnabas Piper so capably puts forth in this engaging and accessible book, is that growth in genuine holiness gives us the freedom to pursue profound and eternal happiness.

Who of us doesn’t want to be happy? But happiness is hard to find and hard to hold on to. Barnabas Piper’s new book, guides us gently away from frowning religiosity and away from giggly frivolity. Barnabas helps us toward Jesus, who overflows with happiness on offer to disappointed people who are trying to figure life out—which is every one of us.

Have you ever wondered if God actually cares if you are happy or not? In this book, , Barnabas walks us all through what happiness actually means and looks like. Don’t worry; it’s good news. And—spoiler alert—yes, God cares about our happiness!

It takes a bold soul to talk about happiness these days. What is it? Can we attain it? Is it ok to desire it? Will it last? Perhaps most important of all, does God want us to be happy? Barnabas Piper accepts the challenge to answer such questions and does a remarkably good job of it. There is an “earthy” realism in this book that is also profoundly spiritual and biblical. In speaking of happiness, Piper isn’t naïve, nor is he oblivious to heartache, disappointment, and pain. But he is confident in the goodness of God and the trustworthy nature of his promises. Did reading this book make me happy? Well, yes, it did! Highly recommended.

Somehow Barnabas Piper manages to cover nearly all that matters in life within the pages of this slim volume. Filled with the kind of common sense that isn’t common enough, yet at the same time turning some conventional thinking on its head, Hoping for Happiness manages to be philosophical, pastoral, and practical all at once.

We live in a sad time, among a people who are, it seems, divided between the downcast and the outraged. How, then, can one pursue happiness? That’s the question Barnabas Piper tackles in this book. With his skillful clarity and creativity (as always), Piper leads us to what it might mean to be a people surprised by joy and surprised to be happy at last. Read happily.

Much of my life has been spent chasing the next... (fill in the blank). Achievement. Experience. Feeling of that fleeting euphoria associated with being ‘happy.’ Before I met Jesus, I satiated this ache with relative impunity, fearing only the loss of what the next moment had to offer. After meeting Jesus, and particularly because of the tribe in which I found myself, eternal joy replaced ‘fleeting and fickle’ pleasures, and with it came a deep sense of guilt for enjoying anything about life. It has taken several years for me to be free to live and actually enjoy the temporal pleasures of this life relieved of either hedonism or shame. For these reasons and more, this book speaks to me and moves me at a core level. I believe it will do the same for all of us, no matter where we are on the spectrum in our pursuit of happy.

The pursuit of happiness, which some have called an ‘inalienable’ human right, can be painfully elusive. We chase happiness in all sorts of things, whether it be sex, money, power, food, fitness, career, religion, or some other good thing. But with so many good things at our disposal, why is happiness still so hard to find? In this helpful volume, Barnabas answers the question by helping us see that our enjoyment of good things is not the problem. Rather, the problem is our tendency to take good things and cling to them as ultimate things. In the tradition of St. Augustine, he reminds us of how hearts are restless until they find their rest in Christ. But in Christ, as the Scripture attests, there are pleasures forevermore.

I loved this book. The writing is so good, but what I find most special about is the humility with which Barnabas communicates. Reading it felt like being served, and every page was a loving push toward the cross. We all want to be happy. We all want to hold on to happiness. This book is an excellent help.

For as long as I’ve known Barnabas, he has always lived what he writes, because he writes what he lives. is Barnabas at his best: authentic, biblical, candid, and practical. He invites readers into the highs and lows of life, using Scripture as our necessary framework for navigating through every season. This work will help you find more realistic expectations, all the while seeing that it is possible to find happiness.

Barnabas Piper’s book, combines biblical truth with practical wisdom to help us experience true happiness. We often try to squeeze happiness out of good things in life, like family, friends, marriage, or even church. But Barnabas shows us why this is wrongheaded and how we can find true happiness under the lordship of Christ.

In a cultural moment when many of us have realized we’re drowning in unhappiness, Barnabas Piper’s book is the life raft we need. With clarity and compassion, Barnabas explores what true happiness looks like in reality. This book is so packed with wisdom and insight that it has the power to get us safely back to the solid ground of Christ-centered happiness.

Countless people are trying to quench their thirst for happiness with pursuits that over-promise and under-deliver. In this timely book, Barnabas Piper points us to a divine well of happiness that will never run dry.