Do You Know the Difference Between Joy and Happiness?
Movieguide® Contributor
In an episode of TAKEAWAYS WITH KIRK CAMERON, Candace Cameron Bure sat down with her brother to talk about the true joy found in God.
“I think it’s good to define the difference between joy and happiness,” Bure told her older brother, Kirk Cameron. “Joy is a goodness that comes from inside you, that sustains you when your circumstances around you are tough, are bad, when they are unhappy circumstances.”
“Happiness is conditionally based,” the FULL HOUSE star continued. “Happiness means that the external things around you are going well, and that can change at any moment. So it’s important when we talk about it to know that there are many days that I may be unhappy because things going on around me might not be great, but I still have joy inside me because joy is never dependent upon my circumstances.”
As a believer, Bure knows that her joy only comes from God.
“It’s knowing that I am at peace with him,” she shared. “I am justified before him. He walks with me. His spirit is upon me.”
“It’s knowing that my future that’s in heaven, it’s having an eternal perspective,” she continued. “That’s where I find my joy when my circumstances are difficult.”
Bure talked about the difference between joy and happiness with author Jennie Allen, too.
She said, “So, happiness, I would say, is an exterior feeling. It’s a feeling that we feel happy when things are created around us that give us happiness. But joy is a deep inner feeling that you have when you have peace and contentment and happiness, too, despite your circumstances. And joy comes from the Lord.”
To remind herself of the joy she finds in Christ, Bure tries to spend time in “God’s word” every day.
It reminds “ourselves of God’s truth, and not allow the world to tell us what it thinks is true,” she said. “Because the world is ever-changing. And God never changes.”
Both Bure and her brother are long-time Movieguide® Awards attendees and have both received Teddy Bear Awards® for their performances.
Movieguide® also reported on Cameron’s joy in Christ:
“…I became persuaded that Jesus really is who He said He is, that the Bible really is the word of God, and the most important decision I could ever make would be to humble myself and trust Jesus Christ as the lord of my life,” he said.
Cameron [said], “Of all the things I’ve ever done in my life — of all the people I’ve met, the places I’ve been, all the cool experiences I’ve had — nothing compares to the joy of knowing Jesus Christ as my lord and savior.”
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