Mosiah 2: 38-41

 

What does it mean for you to be truly happy?

"38 Therefore if that man ^arepenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine ^bjustice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own ^cguilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the ^dpresence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and ^epain, and ^fanguish, which is like an unquenchable ^gfire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.

39 And now I say unto you, that ^amercy hath no claim on that man; therefore his final doom is to endure a never-ending ^btorment.

40 O, all ye ^aold men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand my words, for I have spoken plainly unto you that ye might understand, I pray that ye should awake to a ^bremembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression.

41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and ^ahappy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are ^bblessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out ^cfaithful to the end they are received into ^dheaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." (Mosiah 2: 38-41)

And here's the commentary entitled: "Happiness comes from keeping the commandments of God." :

"How would you describe the happiness that comes from obedience to God? Are there any phrases in Mosiah 2:38–41 that would help you explain why you keep His commandments?"

The happiness that comes from obedience to God is lasting and beyond comparison with the happiness from doing the opposite. One of the phrases that help me explain why I keep His commandments is "blessed in all thing, both temporal and spiritual". I want to please God as much as I possibly can because I have the faith that the more I please Him, the more He will bless me. He is always ready to pour out his blessings to me. And yet He honors my free agency so even though He already knew exactly what are the blessings I need at any given time, He would wait for me to show Him that I truly want to enjoy those blessings. I'm able to show Him my desire for His blessing through obedience. I want to prove to Him that I want all the blessings He has in store for me by doing all I can to obey Him because from my own experience I saw that the blessings He's giving me are indeed what exactly I needed to be truly happy in this life. 

This passage came to  mind and it's saying clearly the relationship between obedience and blessings: 

"20 There is a ^alaw, irrevocably decreed in ^bheaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all ^cblessings are predicated—

21 And when we obtain any ^ablessing from God, it is by ^bobedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (Doctrine and Covenants 130: 21-21)

As I strive to obey God's laws, blessings come even in ways that I've never imagined. Those blessings bring so much joy in my heart, such peace and happiness that never ends--it's eternal. On the other hand, during moments that I was not as obedient as I'm supposed to, I saw that the blessings I needed got delayed and of course, instead of having joy and happiness, I had the opposite. Being able to know from my own experience what choices make me happy and which ones do not, I've been getting wiser and wiser than ever before. I already knew the path to true happiness. I've been hearing about it as I was growing up. And yet, it was a challenge for me to make the right choice all the time (as it is for everyone else). I would make mistakes from time to time. I'm grateful that I realized that mistakes are also blessings--they are blessings in disguise. They are necessary for our learning and growth. I've been learning a lot from my mistakes and I've been growing until I made up my mind that I will do all I can to obey God's commandments. I still make mistakes since then and yet I've never been happier.