I have celebrated birthdays since I knew I could age. Not once had it ever come to my mind that something as jolly as birthdays could or could not be Biblical. Now I find myself asking, “is the Bible against birthdays?” Today, let’s take a look at the Bible and see if it has anything to say about birthdays.
When it comes to birthday celebrations, the Bible seems to explicitly have an account of two birthday celebrations: Pharaoh’s birthday (Genesis 40:20-22) and Herod’s birthday (Matthew 14:6-11, Mark 6:21-28). These two accounts are of “pagan rulers” who celebrated their birthdays often inviting people of high status. Pharaoh’s birthday was commemorated with a celebration for all his officials. He restored the chief cupbearer and killed the chief baker just as Joseph had described in his interpretation of the two servants’ dreams.
Herod held a banquet for his military and nobles on his birthday. This was where Herodias led her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist. Do these two instances suggest that birthday celebrations are a pagan ritual? I would rather think that these birthdays were mentioned because something important to the story being told occurred during those celebrations.
For the story of Joseph, the events of Pharaoh’s birthday particularly prove that Joseph’s dream interpretation is true. For John the Baptist, the account of what happened at Herod’s birthday informs us of the exact nature of John’s death. In the Bible, we are introduced to the birth of some key figures such as Moses, John the Baptist, and Jesus. We also know that there seems to be a record of how old most people in the Bible are. We know that Jesus was about 30 when he began his ministry.
Genesis provides a record of how long people lived from Adam to Moses. How could we know that if these people or someone else were not keeping a record of how long they had been on the earth since their birth. Numbering our days or having an awareness of how long we have lived can be useful to help us use the time God has given us wisely. Setting up reminders of God’s goodness over the years is also something that scripture is not against (Joshua 4:1-7).
If celebrating or remembering the anniversary of one’s birth were something to be avoided, God would have at least mentioned it as a command somewhere in the Bible. Are there any particular verses that specifically mention that people should not remember or celebrate the day of their birth? I haven’t found any. If you have, you can share in the comments. For now, we can say that there is no command to celebrate birthdays or avoid birthdays. It is simply a day one can choose to remember or celebrate if they desire.
Here are some things I have in mind when I consider birthdays: When it comes to celebrating with another person on the event of their birthday, I think that celebrating with those who celebrate is acceptable. It can be a good way to show brotherly love to another believer and thank God with them for another year of life. It can also be a way to show them that we are grateful to God for our friendship with them.
Are birthdays forbidden? They are not forbidden in the Bible. It is safe to say that the conclusion is, whatever we do, let God be honored and glorified in our remembrance or celebration of our birthdays.
Is it possible to live in a reality that is out of place with our present circumstance? Are we supposed to allow ourselves to go through the incumbent emotions triggered by our brain due to the nature of present circumstances or we are supposed to “fake” a positive reality till we “make it”?
The brain releases negative emotions a few moments after a negative experience. Any further negative emotion from then on is self-inflicted. Self-inflicted because we continue to dwell on the negative image our senses fed our minds over and over, thereby releasing the negative emotions over and over.
Emotions are Symptoms
Pain is a symptom. Anxiety is a symptom. Depression is a symptom. Whatever we feel are symptoms, insignia. It’s not the actual thing. It’s a reaction to the actual thing. The chemical reactions in our system are the same for everyone but how the reaction manifests differ from one person to another. That’s why people cry when they are sad, hurt, angry or even happy. Same reaction, different circumstances. The body will release different tears in these different circumstances but that’s not the point.
The goal is not to stop yourself from feeling any negative emotions ever. That’s insane. In fact, it has been scientifically proven that it’s necessary to feel both positive and negative emotions occasionally instead of feeling either of them all the time. What we can do is to channel that negative emotion into positive action. That’s the real deal. Elizabeth Scott, MS said it this way, “Managing negative emotions is more about embracing the fact that we are feeling them, determining why we are feeling this way, and allowing ourselves to receive the messages that they are sending us before we release them and move forward”.
Stopping yourself from feeling hurt, disappointed, grieved or simply down is not emotional intelligence. It is avoidance coping. It can heavily backfire if we don’t tackle it. It’s like hunger. Hunger is a symptom, a sign that you need to feed your body with food. Avoiding the feeling of hunger and doing nothing about it creates more problems. If you kill the symptom, the underlying problem still persists. True emotional maturity is allowing yourself to feel the feels but not letting it change your mindset and stance into a negative reality.
We live in a generation where morality and integrity have become a matter of opinion. Moral bankruptcy is so high that in many contexts, those who choose to do the right thing are made to feel bad and those who do what is bad feel good about it. Because as human as we are we need a sense of belonging and acceptance, we compromise and become complacent just to fit in. Sooner or later, we lose our conscience and we are just like everyone else. Living a certain lifestyle because “everyone is doing it” is the dumbest logic if not one of the dumbest.
We are living in a generation that has made promiscuity look so easy and integrity, difficult. Which one is more difficult to do, fleeing from danger or embracing danger? If we are embracing promiscuity, it is because we have viewed it as a place of comfort rather than that of danger. Physical attraction is an animal instinct and the sex drive is pretty much proactive in our youth. Nonetheless, giving in to our bodily passions can bring about consequences much more dilapidating to even our bodies. We cannot always control how we feel, especially in the sexual sense. What we can do, however, is control what we do when we feel what we feel. Surely, our actions can fuel or dissolve whatever we feel in any context.
Your Feelings Are Not Your Justification
Acting based on our feelings makes us as immature and desperate as a cock on heat. In the same vein, we cannot always control what we think about. What we can control is what we do with that thought. No matter what, the final decision of what action to take lies in our hands; whether we would be caught up in the moment, act based on our feelings, get carried away or act otherwise. We, therefore, have no justifiable excuse, especially when there are many righteous examples to follow and a sweet Spirit to assist us in our daily affairs. Promiscuity is a choice. Therefore, if it has us, it is we who gave it the chance.
Having a Form of Godliness yet Living in Sin
“Jesus saw Nathaniel coming towards him, and saith of him, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.” John 1:47
If Jesus looks at us today, can He see us as a person of integrity, in whom there is no guile? Or are we still hiding behind Jesus from the Father, deceiving ourselves that “when God looks at us, He doesn’t see us? He sees Jesus.” Remember, friendship with the world is enmity with God. It’s not that God is so angry that He would destroy us, but Jesus. No! Just as righteousness gives us right standing with God, living in sin gives us a “wrong” standing with God, where we place ourselves as enemies of God. We make ourselves enemies of God and oppose Him when all He wants from us is friendship.
A life of integrity cannot be lived outside of Christ. In Christ, the only life we can live is a life of integrity. Always remember that.
You Can Have a Fresh Start
The most amazing thing about all this is that, when we fall, we have an advocate who lifts us right back up when we repent. Our slates are wiped clean as if we never did it and the sin is never held against us. What more could we have asked for to live uprightly?
So I have coined a new good “self-” word. I hope it gets recognized soon. It is one thing we often lose sight of. Someway somehow, every “self-” word kind of make us feel self-centered when in fact, it’s the direct opposite. So we go all around happy-ing others while feeling dirty and bedridden in our inner self. We lack self-motivation, self-control, self-love, self-knowledge, self-care and self-identity but are somehow we still feel selfish and seek self-gratification the more. So how do we self-discover and be more self-aware without being so self-absorbed and self-righteous?
We are to follow our own inner guidance and inner intuition. Because we existed before we were born. Therefore the intuitive part of us is much more older and experienced than our brain. We are here to become aware of LOVE within us and to express it. This divine Love – that is in all of us – is our true strength and power; our connection with divinity. But whenever we feel low in energy, we usually crave and draw the self-satisfying energy from the outside world; from other people, social media, drugs, porn, work, sometimes even food. What we are really looking for is LOVE.
But if we rely too much on the strength, guidance or LOVE from other human beings, then we are not learning the most profound lesson of life – that we don’t need LOVE because we are LOVE. We are all one with God. Byron Katie once said, “If I had a prayer, it would be this: God spare me from the desire for love, approval or appreciation. Amen.”
We have to learn total self-acceptance and self-approval, and to become secure with ourselves. Totally free of the need to be loved and approved and appreciated by other people. In other words, we firstly have to be happy with ourselves. If we crave for another partner to love us and to give our life a purpose, we put a terrible burden on that partner. Part of the reason why we are here on earth is to discover this inner jewelry, this divine LOVE within us. It is a quest of self-discovery. No one can discover you more than you.
Once we have discovered – and we still continue to discover more of – this divine LOVE within us, we gradually see everything in a new way. “Old things have passed away. Behold! All things have become new.” Only with the eyes and heart of LOVE. Instead of looking for our so-called one and only “soulmate”, we would come to the understanding on a much deeper level that in actuality, everybody around us is, in truth, also our soulmate. Because there is no separation in actual existence. We are all one, literally. There is only one of us.
Do you – you reading this – realise that life on earth is short, and if you spend all your time waiting on a job, or career, or soulmate, you waste a perfectly good chance to be happy? Do you now make a vow that you will not wait for anything outside of yourself to change before you choose to be happy? Say with surety within you; ” I do”. Now go and start living a self-happy life.
Happiness is an emotion that takes its root deep within our being. The human body secretes and circulates about 50 different hormones. These hormones include growth hormones, male and female hormones (hormones that produce secondary sexual characteristics in our body), stress hormones, sleep hormones and many others. In fact, hormones are chemical substances that are important in every activity within the human body. Consider hormones to be the magic spell that can change the physiology and behaviour of a person once released into the bloodstream. Happiness is no different.
There are 4 main hormones responsible for our happiness;
D for Dopamine
O for Oxytocin
S for Serotonin
E for Endorphin
Dopamine – the Reward Hormone
Also known as the pleasure hormone, dopamine is released when we achieve a goal or accomplish a task. That’s why women love shopping. Even drinking cold water on a hot day releases some level of dopamine. It is released while having sex, when we eat the food we crave and when we partake in an activity we love so much. It is the feel-good neurotransmitter, an essential part of the brain’s reward system.
Well, first of all you need to know an addiction is anything you do to reward yourself when you’re not in the mood. Our bodies release stress hormones whenever we are low on dopamine, thereby increasing the edge to do something pleasurable. Thus, choose your addictions wisely. Simple ways to increase your dopamine include eating healthily, sleeping well, listening to music, getting a massage and going shopping. Also, learn to reward yourself appropriately when you accomplish tasks.
Oxytocin and cortisol (stress hormone) oppose each other in our bodies. When one rises, the other falls. Thus, a deficiency in oxytocin has the same effect as an excess in cortisol. Signs of high cortisol include not sleeping well or waking up tired, weight gain (especially around the abdomen), cravings for unhealthy foods, backaches and headaches, low sex drive, anxiety, and depression.
Do you feel tired even when you’ve not completed any task? Do you feel disconnected in your relationship? You don’t even feel like yourself recently, right? Do you suddenly don’t feel like talking to anyone anymore? It’s like you just don’t have the energy to socialize, n’est pas? Have you walked by people you know and didn’t say hi, not because they annoy you but because you didn’t want to interact? That’s why sometimes when we feel this way, we just hug someone close for no reason.
How to increase Oxytocin levels
Oxytocin is a bonding chemical. Spend time with the ones you love, be goofy with your friends, share something valuable with someone, have a fruitful conversation with another. Laugh, share, help, touch, spread the love. Oxytocin is controlled by a positive feedback mechanism where the release of the hormone causes an action that stimulates more of its own release. It is nature’s way of passing on the love. It is making someone happy because you find happiness in that. At the end of the day, everyone’s happy.
Serotonin – the Calm Hormone
Serotonin is the hormone that is responsible for our emotional stability. It is considered the natural mood stabilizer. It is also present in animals, plants, and fungi. Thus, food is one good source of serotonin. You can’t directly get serotonin from food, but you can get it from tryptophan, an amino acid that’s converted to serotonin in your brain. Serotonin can be produced in the digestive system independent of the serotonin produced in the brain.
Function
Serotonin is associated with mood, sleep, digestion, blood clotting, bone density and sexual function. It makes us feel calmer, happier, more focused, less anxious and more emotionally stable. This hormoneis also influencing when, how much, and how well you sleep. It can also influence the frequency and intensity of the sexual feelings you have due to its effects on the body’s libido.
Excess Serotonin Effect
When people use certain recreational drugs, such as ecstasy, the body releases large amounts of serotonin. This can lead to serotonin depletion. Fluctuations of serotonin levels in the brain, which often occur when someone hasn’t eaten or is stressed, affects brain regions that enable people to regulate anger. The old adage was true; a hungry man is an angry man.
Do what you would usually do to lighten up your mood. Go for a walk, listen to your favourite music, opt for a massage, eat some good healthy food, especially those rich in fibre and protein, remember the fun times; those old happy memories, and most importantly, pray. Do you ever feel the burden suddenly lifted when you down on your knees in prayer? You sure have! All such activities calm you down and uplift your mood.
Endorphin – the Willpower Hormone
Contracted from endogenous morphine, endorphins are chemicals produced by the body to relieve stress and pain. It produces a feeling of euphoria that is both healthy and safe, without the risk of addiction and overdose. As an anti-anxiety hormone, it blocks discomfort and makes us excited. When endorphins are released in your body, it gives you the ability to power through any form of pain. That explains the name.
Function
Since humans naturally seek to feel pleasure and avoid pain, we’re more likely to do an activity if it makes us feel good. Endorphins alleviate pain even during childbirth, reduce stress and anxiety, boost self-esteem and reduce excess weight. It is the happy feeling produced when we exercise and feel good about ourselves and our bodies. This phenomenon is known as the runner’s high.
Excess Endorphin Effect
With high endorphin levels, we feel less pain and fewer negative effects of stress. Endorphin is the body’s naturally produced pain killer that is released in relation to the level of pain it’s feeling. Without endorphins, the pain of labour and childbirth would have been practically impossible to bear since such pain exceeds a human’s threshold of pain. In such cases, the female body still produces high levels that are both healthy and safe, without the risk of addiction and overdose.
What are your coping mechanisms to get through the pain again? Yes! Eat chocolate, eat your favourite food, create art or music, laugh out loud, watch your favourite show, do what you had always loved to do. This adage was also right. When you do what you love, though it may be really stressful, your body will release just the right amount of endorphins you would need to get through it.
I believe everything in nature was purposefully designed to keep us happy. The beautiful sunrise, drinking water, the cosy weather, having a conversation, the bright flowers, laughing, eating your favourite food, walking out to soak it all in simply make us happy. It’s the simple things in life, to be honest.
Love is a constant tangible experience of His outpour of Himself. Love is in the air. We have heard “God loves you” many times, but until it is fruitfully experienced by the sayer, it can never be better expressed to the listener.
Love is what makes me happy when I have no reason to. Love is one self-motivating effect that never withers. Knowing that I’m loved keeps me going. And it is this same love that picks me up when I fall, that encourages me when I stumble.
And when I’m tired of life and just feel like giving up on myself, love gives me a reason to live. Simply knowing that I’m loved outrageously fills me up with peace. It puts a smile on my face and a tear in my eye. Such amazing love. Love is so beautiful.
Love opens up my heart to all good things. It takes away any subconscious fear. And even though I may not be able to escape being broken in one way or the other, I know love will be there to heal my wounds.
And every time I think of love, I open my arms wide and close my eyes. I breathe in and I smile. It changes my realities. I feel like I’m top of the mountains. I do not have a single doubt about this love. Love is indeed in the air.
Everyone will die but not everyone has lived. By that, I don’t mean that there are more people to be born, but that there are some existing who are not living. Is it possible to exist and not be fully alive?
Priorities
A sign that you probably don’t have a life is when you’re always going with the flow of events that suddenly pop up. People who have a life have priorities. They understand the idea that time is a precious commodity and that it should be allocated to matters that are deemed important and/or relevant at the time.
People who are going nowhere want you to go with them. Be careful of people who rather parasite on people’s lives. They feel okay in their mess as long as they have someone in the same soup as them.
Balance
Productivity and busyness are not alike, they are opposites. The most productive people are not those who brush off almost everything because they have “priorities”, deadlines or tight schedules. It is actually those whose priorities and schedule are pretty much balanced.
Once in a while, they may even go in their way to brush off their tight schedules and go with the flow of events. No matter what you make your life, it will eat you up if you don’t balance it with other priorities. Be flexible!
Identity
Life is basically about purpose. So whenever we’re sluggishly going through life though we’re partying every weekend, getting high every moment and getting laid every time, we still feel unsatisfied on the inside and we actually do not have a life because we can’t get our heads around the meaning and purpose for our doings.
If we do not have a deep sense of meaning, we distract ourselves with pleasure.
Daniel Good
Remember, a purposeless life – no matter how fun it seems – is encapsulated with depression. Make sure your life isn’t centred around a job you can be fired from or friends you can lose.
Life is an art. Every mistake is a new style. There are no rigid rules yet there are certain aspects that must be ancillary to the life we live. These aspects are meant to complement our lives rather than be it.
Be mindful what you invest your life into. If it’s a job or position or relationship you can lose, don’t make it your life. Trust me. It will leave you devastated when it’s all gone. Invest your life in your identity; something you’ll always be no matter what, something that can never be taken away from you because it’s basically what you are. Live from within!
