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The Beatitudes Principle
Luke 6:20
"And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God."
A very important principle for life is taught in the beatitudes that I fear most people miss. The principle that is missed is that in order to enjoy something, you must partake of the opposite. For instance, God says that you must be hungry before you can be filled. You must weep before you can laugh. You must have hardships before you can rejoice. In other words, you will never enjoy anything to its fullest without experiencing the opposite as well.
It is important that you learn this principle and teach it to your children. For instance, your children need to learn to work before they can play. Too many parents allow their children to play all the time without working, only to find the children frustrated. Your children will enjoy their play time more if they must work before they play. My parents always made sure that I had my chores done before they would let me play. They were simply teaching me that I would enjoy my play time better if I worked.
Likewise, your home and life will not enjoy laughter to its fullest if there is no time to weep. You could plan times to weep by visiting people in the nursing homes and hospitals. I am all for laughter, but there must be a time to weep so that laughter can be enjoyed to its fullest.
If you want your love to be greater, then you must also hate. I know this sounds strange, but love without hatred is a shallow love. For instance, I love my wife and daughter, and anything that would hurt them I hate. If I don't hate what would hurt them, then I don't love them the way that I should. Love needs hatred as must as hatred needs love. One without the other is wrong.
Likewise, young married couples need to learn that before they enjoy the luxuries of life, they need to struggle for a while. Those who enjoy everything at the beginning will end up getting themselves into trouble. The strongest marriages are the marriages that struggled in the early years. Those years of struggling together allowed them to enjoy the pleasures of life greater. Too many young couples immediately want the nice house filled with new furniture and two new cars sitting in the driveway. If they want their marriage to be more fulfilling, then they would be wise to wait until they can afford these things. Struggling together will give your marriage more fulfillment.
Christian, I am simply trying to get you to see that you will never quite enjoy life until you apply the beatitudes principle of partaking of both sides. Grace needs truth, love needs hatred, play needs work, pleasure needs struggles, patience needs tribulation, joy needs sorrow, laughter needs crying, etc. Be careful about only enjoying one side of life. Realize that you must partake of both if you want your life to be truly fulfilling.