God has created this world where you get what you give, but at the same time God makes the rewards, not ourselves. If we only sow and give to our flesh, we will only reap corruption. The fleshly things in life (food, possessions, sensual experiences, and so on) only bring satisfaction temporarily and quickly pass away. All fleshly things are only desirous temporarily because they quickly decay and corrupt eventually resulting in death. If we sow in the Spirit daily (give genuine love to God and our fellow man), we will reap eternal things and eventually eternal life.

A person becomes a born again Christian when they accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. You accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior by hearing His word and accepting that you are a sinner, and you have been disobedient of God. As sinners we need salvation to save us from God’s wrath toward our sin and disobedience of Him. Because God also loves us, Jesus came to this Earth as a God-man to take the punishment for our sins and save us. He is the only one that can save us and that only through Him can we have everlasting life with God (John 5:24,"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life").

The definition of Christian redemption includes being born again. Jesus paid the ransom and took on the punishment for our sin so that we can be saved. But we still have to accept this free gift that Jesus gave to us. We have to believe in Him and accept Him as our Lord and Savior. This is the only way that we will not perish in our own corruptible sins, but have everlasting life (John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”).

If you think about it, a ransom is a free gift to the person being redeemed. In the Christian definition of redemption, the free gift of eternal life is the end result of our redemption. Jesus is the one that offers us the free gift of eternal life. The only reason that Jesus paid the price for our sin on the cross is because He loves us. He paid our ransom by offering the free gift of eternal life to all of mankind (Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”). This ransom, this free gift, enables a righteous God to forgive us of our sin nature, and allows for mankind to be reconciled back to God. Our redemption occurs only because of the riches of God’s grace and the shedding of Jesus’ blood as payment for our sin (Ephesians 1:7, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”).

God has shown us real love by his grace and the giving of His Son that all of mankind may have eternal life (John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."). Though all of us through our sin nature fall short of God's righteousness, He expressed His love for us by Christ paying the penalty for our sins (Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."). This love of God is unmerited favor in that this love goes out to all of mankind. When asking what is love, the characteristics of God's love includes patience, kindness, generosity, humbleness, courtesy, unselfishness, good temper, righteousness, and sincerity to name a few (1Corinthians 13:4).

From a Christian perspective there is only one way to happiness and that is through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only way for us to be reconciled back to God and to have true joy. With happiness we are all like the prodigal son where we will try many ways to reach happiness. For us who are Christians, at some point we will realize that we need salvation and that we need to establish a relationship with our Father, our God.