The word philosophy means, “Love of wisdom.” That a good word for it because the more I read and discuss philosophy, the more I love it. It doesn’t just stimulate my thinking, but it helps me live happily.

The Value of Wisdom

My experience of wisdom’s benefit has proved true what God says again and again in Proverbs, the ultimate book of wisdom: “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight” (Proverbs 4:7). But, why is wisdom (i.e. philosophy) so valuable? Seneca answers better than I could:

(Philosophy) is the art of living, and she teaches us not only how to bear poverty, but even how to enrich ourselves with it. She shows us how to rejoice in good fortune without becoming its slave, and how to bear bad fortune without being crushed by it. She teaches us how to act rightly in our relations with others, how to be free in any condition, how to despise death, how to be content with little, how to be happy with much, how to be prepared for any eventuality.

She does not promise to remove the obstacles from life, but to give us the strength to overcome them. She does not promise to take away the passions, but to regulate them, not to make us insensible to pain, but to show us how to conquer it. She does not promise to make us immune to fear, but to teach us how to face it with courage.

So, philosophy is not just a subject for debate in the lecture halls, but a guide for daily life. It is not merely to be learned, but to be lived. It teaches us to be self-sufficient, to find our contentment within ourselves, and to live in accordance with nature. This is its practical value; this is why it is not to be studied for the sake of mere knowledge but for the art of living.

What else can provide a life like that? What else could be more valuable? As Solomon said, “For wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.” (Proverbs 8:11)

Wise Lessons That Help Me Live Happier

Here are some wise lessons I’ve learned and practiced from philosophy that have significantly helped me live happy in Jesus; that is, according to reality instead of illusion.

Practice Who You Want to Be

What’s funny about people is we all know who we want to be – honest, patient, kind, wise, faithful, etc. – but we rarely do actual things to become that. Epictetus challenged me in this area when he wrote, “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” Ideals without actions are pipe-dreams. Actions toward ideals become reality. No one becomes a professional athlete by wish-casting, but practicing. Artists don’t simply desire to make beautiful things, they paint bad picture after bad picture and eventually they get good. Instead of impotently saying, “I sure wish I was more like Jesus,” this has made me aggressively ask, “What little things am I practicing today to become like Jesus?” and then spurred me to do those things. No one becomes like Jesus by accident.

I Am Responsible for My Emotions

I never realized I had unthinkingly adopted the axiom, “I can’t help how I feel.” If someone said something mean or a difficult situation was forced upon me or my kids ruined the couch, I would assume, “The negative emotions I am feeling are out of my control.” This belief is revealed when we say things like, “You made me angry” or “My kids are driving me nuts!” This kind of thinking is incredibly enslaving. It subtly teaches me I am not free, but a victim of my circumstances; I’m doomed to feel bad things when thrown into unpreferable situations.

Then I read this line by Epictetus, “If someone (or something) succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation.” In short, no one forces me to be upset, but I choose to be. This has been both freeing and challenging. Freeing because it helped me know that though I may not be in control of what happens to me, I am always in control of how I respond. I am not slave to people or circumstances. It is challenging because it puts me back into the seat of responsibility. Having read that, I can no longer blame my wife, kids, or circumstances for a cranky attitude. Those things may be the fuel, but I alone choose to strike the match. The emotional responses I allow to flame up and direct my responses are on on me.

Know the Things I Can & Can’t Control.

Most of life is completely outside of my control. I can’t control traffic, the weather, the economy, whether or not wars start or stop, health crises, my wife’s words, my children’s weaknesses, or much else. So what should we do?

Epictetus instructs us well: “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” Though I cannot control what happens to me, I can always control how I think and react. The well-known “Serenity Prayer” (which is Stoic philosophy improved with Christian theology) demonstrates this wisdom in prayer form:

“God,

grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.”

In learning and practicing this, I’m better at accepting unpreferable situations not as a reason for anxiety, but a call to action. My impulse is less, “Why God?” and more “What God?” As a result, my anxiety over things I can’t control – external things – has decreased a lot (not perfectly) and my sense of agency over the things I can control – internal things – has increased. It’s lessened my complaints and increased my conduct.

Wisdom is the Greatest Treasure

We live in a culture that values silly trinkets like money, pleasure, reputation, health, drugs, and rock-and-roll. Most of those things aren’t bad things (probably good to avoid drugs), they’re just not the best things because they don’t help you live better as a human. Wisdom, on the other hand, is aimed only at that goal.

Socrates contrasts the world’s values to the value of wisdom this way:

“I do nothing else but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue come money and every other good of man, public as well as private.”

Someone can have wealth without wisdom and still be miserable. Others can have wisdom without wealth and still be happy. But, as Socrates points out, those who get wisdom usually come to obtain the worldly comforts others seek not because it was their aim, but as a happy by-product of living wisely. This caused me to ask, “Do I want to chase the fruit (health, wealth, happiness) or should I tend to the root (being a wise Christ-like image bearer)? The decision was an easy one. It has helped me walk the narrow road to the heavenly kingdom and not get detoured by the allure of sandcastles.

Freedom is Living as I’m Made to.

Normal thinking today thinks freedom is doing what I want. As Disney preaches, “Follow your heart.” However, this is as helpful advice as, “Drink the poison.” Why? Our heart wants deadly things and often seeks to get them in deadly ways. Freedom is not doing what you want, but living how you were made to live. Seneca wrote, “The happy life is to have a mind that is in harmony with the whole of nature.” Humans are most happy when they’re living according to their human nature. To illustrate, suppose a fish wanted to live outside of water. Would you counsel him to do so? No. Why? Because, no matter his desires, it won’t make his life better because a fish was made for water. He will be happiest not doing what he wants, but living how he’s been made to.

In the same way, I have been made to reflect the character and conduct of God. As a human, I am an image bearer. Therefore, I will experience true freedom not from doing what I want to, but living how I was made to: to know and act like God in character and conduct.

Difficulties Are Opportunities

It is easy to see difficulties or failures as an end. However, wisdom sees them as the beginning to another level of growth. Marcus Aurelius is famous for this line: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” What he means is difficulties are powerful opportunities to grow. They may be a red light for our former plans, but they can be a green light to future strength if we choose to tackle them with whatever resources we have at hand. Think about what happens when someone doesn’t quite when the going gets hard, but seeks to overcome it or make it better. They think hard, work hard, gather good counsel, and persevere through it. Even if the difficulty isn’t completely solved they have become a stronger, better person because of the process.

For believers, I hope this sounds familiar. James said it this way:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4

Christians can lean into Aurelius’ wisdom harder than anyone because we understand our trials and difficulties are accidents, but have come to us from our Father’s loving hand to make us more like Christ. For those guided by wisdom, difficulties are God’s sandpaper to make us more like him.

Use Your Resources When Things Get Hard

When bad things happen, we’ve generally two responses: complain or get to work. Though the first is easiest, it doesn’t alleviate the problem or help us grow in any way. The second accomplishes both. Epictetus pointed this out in a line I don’t think I will forget:

“Instead of meeting misfortune with groans and tears, I will call up the faculty especially provided to deal with it. ‘But my nose is running! What do you have hands for, idiot, if not to wipe it? ‘But how is it right that there be running noses in the first place?’ Instead of thinking up protests, wouldn’t it be easier just to wipe your nose?”

God has given us the resources to bear any burden he lays on us in life. Will I use them or will I sit and complain through the boogers?

In light of these things, hear afresh the gracious offer God holds out to us all. “The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor” (Prov.15:33). Wisdom, dear friends, is nothing more than being serious about actually living like Christ is Lord.