{"id":38961,"date":"2018-12-07T09:10:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T09:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/if-then-ill-be-happy\/"},"modified":"2018-12-07T09:10:00","modified_gmt":"2018-12-07T09:10:00","slug":"if-then-ill-be-happy","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/if-then-ill-be-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018If . . . Then I\u2019ll Be Happy!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Psychologists tell us that our brains tend to miss-predict what will actually bring us happiness. We assume that if we achieve certain things in our life, we will find happiness.<\/p>\n\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be happy <em>if <\/em>I get admitted into the right school.&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be happy <em>if <\/em>I find the right partner.&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be happy <em>if <\/em>I make vice president.&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be happy <em>if <\/em>I have my dream house.&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n<p>As Harvard psychologist Shawn Achor observes, this &ldquo;if-then&rdquo; perspective cannot be supported by science, because each time our brain experiences a &ldquo;success,&rdquo; it moves the goalposts of what success looks like. If you got good grades, you have to get <em>better <\/em>grades. If you have a good job, you now have to get a <em>better <\/em>job. If you hit your sales target, now you have to <em>raise <\/em>your sales target. If you buy a home, now you want to have a <em>larger <\/em>home.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead2\"> <\/h2>","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3366,3681,3683,3726,3764,3796,4100,4117,4435,4666,4731,4913,5102,5302,5303],"tax_ctp_topics":[391,397,403],"class_list":["post-38961","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-abundant-life","tax_ctp_tags-consumer-mentality","tax_ctp_tags-contentment","tax_ctp_tags-culture","tax_ctp_tags-desert","tax_ctp_tags-discontent","tax_ctp_tags-greed","tax_ctp_tags-happiness","tax_ctp_tags-materialism","tax_ctp_tags-possessions","tax_ctp_tags-prosperity","tax_ctp_tags-self-deception","tax_ctp_tags-success","tax_ctp_tags-worldliness","tax_ctp_tags-worldview"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u2018If . . . Then I\u2019ll Be Happy!\u2019 - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/if-then-ill-be-happy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018If . . . Then I\u2019ll Be Happy!\u2019 - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Psychologists tell us that our brains tend to miss-predict what will actually bring us happiness. 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