The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life

by Hannah Whitall Smith

A complete and unabridged edition of the inspirational classic that has sold more than 10 million copies.

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Nonfiction, Christianity, Faith, Theology, Religion

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1883

About the author

Hannah Whitall Smith, 1832-1911

Hannah Whitall Smith was a speaker and author in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom. She was also active in the Women's suffrage movement and the Temperance movement, helping found the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
Hannah was no stranger to the difficulties of life. Although she had seven children in all, only three survived to adulthood.

Reviews

[Ryan Hanry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely amazing in every way. I am going to read and re-read this on a regular basis! I'm really enjoying this book!! I would recommend this well edited edition to all: https://www.amazon.com/Christians-Sec...

[Jessica Steiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This title really seems a bit trite for the magnitude of wisdom and mature Christian discipleship which it's pages contain.
Plan to be enlightened (seeing biblical principles and scripture in a new way-even though the book was authored in 1875). Plan to be challenged (all our modern self focused-self absorbed Christianity is refuted bit by bit). After all this we see through a clearer glass, a more simple Christian life which does indeed bring happiness- or what I would refer to as true biblical joy. In the 1800's I imagine that the line was thinner between happiness and joy. Today's Christians are learning to discern that joy is a heart condition relating to contentment regardless of perfect circumstances and one's happiness usually is based upon a sense of comfort without trial. The later can never be sustained, but joy is eternal. I beleive the author's desire for the time was to help the reader discover truer 'joyful' happiness- really encompasseing both states in the best sense; before recent generations' quest for the quick fix, instant ease and satisfaction of desires became the current measure of one's happiness.
The author's classic wisdom based on scripture and her ability to dissect personal motive from a Godly motivation makes this an especially refreshing and thought provoking read. Not guilt based but truth impartation does the convincing.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not for any but the true seeker of knowledge because the author's language is dated and difficult to follow. For me, it was a gem. The author answered many questions that I did not know I had about my spiritual life. Questions like "If I have truly turned my life over to Christ, why am I still so flawed?" and "How does one really "turn your burden over to him?" I know why it has been a Christian best seller for 150 years. I love her approach to Christianity. The chapters are really short, about 3-4 pages and each day provided me with tons of food for thought.

[Jo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had a weird feeling about the way the author was treating sanctification while I was reading this book, but I wasn’t sure enough to slap a label on it. After finishing it and doing a bit of research, it turns out there is a label – she’s promoting a Wesleyan doctrine of complete sanctification. Essentially, this doctrine teaches that you need to have a second spiritual experience in which you surrender yourself to God, and he will do the work of sanctification for you (“Let go and let God”), thus enabling you to achieve perfection.

Given that this viewpoint clashes with the reality of most Christian’s experiences (not to mention the biblical testimony of Christian growth), it’s no wonder that Smith recommends treating doubts in the way she does – essentially she tells readers to squeeze their eyes shut and tell themselves that their doubts aren’t true until the doubts go away. Reason doesn’t and shouldn’t enter into it.

I didn’t care for this much while reading it, and care for it even less in retrospect.

[Ann Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was suggested to me and I listened to The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life by Hanna Whitall Smith. I almost stopped listening. So glad I didn't. Great comparisons to every day life examples. This is a book to read all the way through.

[Thomas Kinsfather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off good, then died after a few chapters. Finishing it was long and excruciating. I don't recommend it.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this book a number of times. It is one of my favorite books. Miss Smith has a wonderful way of looking at the Christian life. She is able to look at real life and talk about how we as christians are to walk in it. This is not always easy, but I have found that her answers to common situations a christian faces are biblically sound and very practical and useful. I get new insight on how to continue in this life every time I read it. I would encourage any christian to read it and see how God uses it in their life.

[Talia Karickhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book! I absolutely loved this book.

I found this book by looking in the references section of a Jen Wilkin book, looking for some of her ~inspiration~ (something I should do more often apparently!).

The title seems cliche but the wisdom and truth in this book is rich! The author speaks with much authority of the power over sin in Christ and the freedom and joy that brings to ordinary Christian lives. I was so encouraged!

I especially loved the boldness in which she spoke. I would often read a section and think “Yes Ma’am!!”. I sometimes feel like books and studies geared towards Christian women feel the need to “go easy” on women (“being a women is hard you know!”) regarding the commandments of Jesus. Diluting the commandments of Jesus reduces the transforming power of the Spirit in our lives! This book is a refreshing taste of the full call and life for all believers.

[Joey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely life changing.

[Zsanae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended by Elisabeth Elliot. Such a great read..

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Perfect obedience would be perfect happiness, if only we had perfect confidence in the power we were obeying.” Hannah Whitall Smith

First published in 1874, Smith’s classic of Christian living pre-dates many subsequent Christian works.

“It is a fatal mistake to make our emotions the test of our oneness with Christ. If I have joyous emotions, I may be deluded by thinking I have entered into Divine union when I have not; and if I have no emotions, I may grieve over my failure to enter, when really I have already entered. Character is the only real test. God is holy and those who are one with Him will be holy also.” Hannah Whitall Smith.

Readers must understand that Smith defines happy differently than many of her contemporaries and many of us. If anything her life was far from easy or happy in the sense we use that word. Nevertheless this book has influenced Christians since.

"In 1870 Hannah Whitall Smith wrote what has become a classic of joyous Christianity, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. The title barely hints at the depths of that perceptive book. It is no shallow "four easy steps to successful living." Studiously, the writer defines the shape of a full and abundant life hid in God. Then she carefully reveals the difficulties to this way and finally charts the results of a life abandoned to God. What is the Christian's secret to a happy life? It is best summed up by her chapter entitled "The Joy of Obedience." Joy comes through obedience to Christ, and joy results from obedience to Christ. Without obedience joy is hollow and artificial." Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline

“Many Christians love God’s will in the abstract, but carry great burdens in connection with it. [But] if the work is His, the responsibility is His, also, and we have no room left for worrying about the results.” Hannah Whitall Smith

As Foster wrote, this is not a “four easy steps” book. In fact, it’s slow going for modern readers. Smith’s prose is clear and powerful, but her sentences are long and complex. It’s worth the effort.

“Nearly everything in life comes to us through human instrumentalities, and most of our trials are the result of somebody’s failure, or ignorance, or carelessness, or sin. What is needed, then, is to see God in everything, and to receive everything directly from His hands … before we can know an abiding experience of entire abandonment and perfect trust. To the children of God, everything comes directly from their Father’s hand, no matter who or what may have been the apparent agents.” Hannah Whitall Smith

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book written so many years ago is still 'on the money' and relevant today. Throughout the ages there are clearly people who really have 'got it' and yet generally speaking, overall, we just don't seem to get it. It seems like we as a people are still drinking milk and have never, and, at times, it feels like, will never, get to the solid food.

How do we - as a people, not as individuals - 'get it'? I guess at the end of the day that is not our responsibility. It is in fact God's. All that is required of each one of us - as individuals and collectively - is to do our bit .. In faith we are to trust, listen and live, leaving the work and worry to God. That is not to say we do nothing but we do need to do less 'doing right' and more just 'living life'. Living out our relationships with one another, allowing God to work in them and through them. Living a life of love and joy that comes by living by faith and trust - true faith and trust ... at all times, not just in the good times or not just during the bad times, but during the good and the bad and all times in-between.

The message Hannah Whitall Smith gives is live life in the knowledge of God rather than your circumstances or your feelings. Take the stress and worry out of life by putting your trust and life in God's hands.

[Rachel Woodward · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such an encouragement, treating common spiritual difficulties practically. The tone is like a good friend, compassionate yet for your own good is not afraid to tell you what you're doing wrong. I especially appreciated the chapters addressing the unfortunate tendency for people to use their feelings/emotions to gauge how they are doing spiritually or even to know what they believe. Smith does a great job clearing this up, and even uses the analogy of a mother-child relationship to describe the will-emotion relationship.

Don't be turned off by the title. This is no cheap & easy 3-steps to perfect happiness. It is a classic for good reason.

[Beckynovacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is in my list of top 10 books. i'll always have a copy or two on my bookshelves.

[Mckenna Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too much practical, godly wisdom to give it anything else than five stars. This will be a book I will pick up again.

[Blessing Bloodworth (naptimereaders) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is recommended and referenced often in Elisabeth Elliot’s recordings, and I can see why! The style of truth telling and simple obedience reminds me a lot of EE’s teachings. The told a scriptural truth simply, taught it again through the use of an illustration (and sometimes two) and then called on the reader to live it out.

I found her clear and concise admonitions to “walk in a manner worthy”, to take hold of the “life hidden with Christ, to hold truth over emotions, and to joyfully abandon self to be found in Christ to be exactly what my heart needed to hear. The Lord used this book to remind me of some major truth I was neglecting.

Though she used a high amount of scripture in her writings, she did not use many location references which I found to be a bit frustrating.

[Sarah Pascual · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book full of hope of overcoming and triumph for the follower of Jesus. My enjoyment of the book fluctuated from chapter to chapter and her writing is a bit meandering, but the truths are so powerful that I think I needed them repeated again and again to truly believe them. The other thing I loved about this book was her extensive use of scripture. All in all, it was a bit challenging to get through but well worth the read, and the truths I found in this book will stick with me for a long time. (I should add a qualifier that she wrote this book in the 1800s and some of her language toward others would be considered inappropriate in modern day.)

[Peter Lundahl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had some good moments but otherwise I was fairly underwhelmed.

[Charlie Lebby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing.

[Cory Jew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read 5/5

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oops completed this a while ago and forgot to update. Read this for King family book club over Thanksgiving. I feel like half of it jived with me, half of it I’m not sure I understood or found useful BUT it was a nice thing to read right before bed every night. Like extra prayer time. So four stars!

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this some years before and was not all that impressed, but this reading earned the book a top rating. There was so much wisdom. The book was definitely clear on the difference in salvation and discipleship. The secret is rest in God's provision and discipline in daily living. It was clear what God has done for us and what we need to do to obey Him.

"He disciplines and trains by inward exercises and outward providences."

"What are the chief characteristics of a little child, and how does it live? It lives by faith, and its chief characteristic is freedom from care. It's life is one long trust from year's end to year's end... It lives in the present moment and receives its life unquestioningly as it comes to it day by day from its father's hands... Children do not need to carry about in their own pockets the money for their support."

"Now, the truth is, that this life is not to be lived in the emotions at all, but in the will; and therefore, if only the will is kept steadfastly abiding in its center, God's will, the varing states of emotion do not in the least disturb or affect the reality of the life... I cannot control my emotions, but I can control my will."

"...sweetness under provocation; calmness in the midst of turmoil and bustle; a yielding to the wishes of others, and an insensibility to slights and affronts; abssence of worry or anxiety; deliverance from care and fear, -- all these, and many other similar graces, are usually found to be the natural outward development of that inward life which is hid with Christ in God."

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is overly simplistic. If you are looking for easy answers to complex issues, even if they are near impossible to accomplish, then you will love this book. I was looking for encouragement in this text, but I instead spent too much time discussing with my husband the logical roadblocks contained within its pages. Which led me to ask, "who is this woman, and why am I reading her book?" After reading a brief biography, I realized this woman must have doubted her own propositions as much as I do. The basic premise of the book is okay: let go of your ego and submit your will to God. But the application requires one to completely ignore the depths of the human condition. The issues I have with this book are all theological, so not worth discussing. If you are not the type to over-think things, then this book would likely be a great encouragement. I can see why it is still popular after all these years.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can see why this is regarded as a classic by some, because some of the chapters and content is quite good - although the rest is not so. The book is a bit floaty some times, using way to much adjectives and words to describe the menaing or the nature of more simple concepts and thus fail to properly explain things. This combined with the type of language used, it simply was mostly boring to read - especially in the way I read it - out of curiosity.

It may be that If you read one chapter a day and really tried to get into the text that you would catch more of the book than I did. I also think this is a more situation dependent book, merely aimed at housewives in the end of the 19th century (although the goal seems to be to attract a wider audience) - to whom this book may have a greater impact than a single nerdish guy in the 21th century.

[Tom Brennan · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I can understand the enduring appeal of this book, I do not understand why discerning Christians would promote or recommend it. It is appealing because it is well-written and encouraging. She illustrates her points very well, thus making them easy to grasp. She includes much good truth. But the book has two great problems. First, she makes holiness too simple. She entirely bypasses whole aspects of scriptural teaching on the subject, and insists essentially that people can be instantly holy. Second, and worse, she flirts with perfectionism. No, that is not correct. She does not flirt with it, she practically embraces it in all but name. As a result of these two problems there is little to no balance in the book, and I do not think it should be read by Christians other than for research. The minuses simply far outweigh the pluses.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just completed this precious book for the fifth time and found it to be life-transforming once again. It contains such simple yet deeply profound Truth while also containing many excellent practical helps. I know I shall reread this book throughout my life and should also be understood in the context of the author's own highly challenging life and times (especially for women); it truly is one of my top five must reads for any Christian who truly wants to live a victorious, fulfilled and happy life! The language is rather unusual at first but don't let this stop you from reading all the way through!

[Stephanie Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely one of my favorites. She tackles the hard spiritual questions.From the very beginning of that Christian classic, my thoughts were molded by her teaching. Although this book is still in print and for sale, you can also read it online. I especially recommend the first chapter: God’s Side and Man’s Side. To paraphrase the author, God’s part is to do all the work, your part and my part is to trust Him.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those read-every-year books. Depending on where you're at in your life, you will always take away something new and different from it after you've read it. Written in the late 1800's, sometimes the prose is a little complicated, but sticking with it, one will glean much from the book.

[Lisa Morrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best books I have ever read, besides the Bible! I could read it over and over again. It was first published in 1870. God used Hannah Whitall Smith to impart such wisdom through this book.

[Noreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life was originally published in 1883. That is impressive that it is still in print and having a good impact on so many people's lives. I enjoyed her insight and analogies.