Finding True Joy
In a world filled with trials, hardships, and struggles, it can be all too easy to lose sight of joy. But as Christians, we are called to a different way of living, one that is marked by an unshakable joy that comes from our faith in God. This joy is not dependent on our circumstances or our material possessions, but rather it is a deep and abiding sense of peace and contentment that comes from knowing that we are loved by our Creator.
Timothy Keller, in his teachings on joy, emphasizes the idea that true joy is not dependent on external factors like wealth, success, or relationships. Instead, it is a gift from God that can be experienced even in the midst of pain and suffering.
How audacious it is to imply that joy can exist in pain and suffering, aren’t those inverses of themselves?
What exactly is Christian joy, and how does it differ from the fleeting happiness that the world offers?
Joy is not simply a positive emotional state that we experience when things are going well in our lives. Rather, it is a deep and profound sense of well-being that comes from knowing that we are loved and accepted by God. This kind of joy is not dependent on our circumstances, but rather it is rooted in our relationship with God.
We need to know above all that this kind of joy is not a passive emotion, but rather it is an active response to the grace of God. Tim rightly said; “Joy is not just an emotion. It’s a response. It’s active. It’s a way of engaging with your circumstances and with other people. It’s what happens when we recognize that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness.”
How can we then cultivate this kind of joy in our lives?
You catch joy when you spend time with God. As simple as that sound, it can easily be seen when we love people and spend great time with them, we begin to pick up some of their attributes, we begin to see things like them, in the same vein, Joy is a communicable attribute of God. (2Cor 3:18)
When we spend time in prayer and meditation on God’s Word, immersing ourselves in the scripture, reminding ourselves of God’s faithfulness and goodness, even in the midst of our trials, we find the map in itself in Gods words; The gospel brings joy. (Psa 16:11)
Cultivating an attitude of gratitude breeds joy. When we focus on the blessing and the blesser, on the hope rather than on what we think we lack, that spirit of thankfulness helps sustain us through different seasons in life. (Psa 4:7)
Cultivating joy is a community experience. When we share our joy, our remembrance, our testimonies, we inspire others to do the same, and this opens us up to more experience of absolute and fullness of joy and victory in Christ. (Rev12:11)
Tim further argued that the opposite of joy is not sorrow, it is hopelessness. (Rom 5:3). Hope keeps you sane, hope makes you look forward. Even in grieving, in sorrow, we don’t sorrow like those without hope (1 Thess 4:13)
When we believe in the gospel, the Spirit of God takes up residence in our lives. And one of the first things he produces in us is joy.
A child of God would receive a joy with such intensity that no sorrow in the world could overwhelm it. Sorrow is always a temporary condition and joy is permanent.
So rejoice always (Phil 4:4).
Christian joy is not a fleeting emotion that is dependent on our circumstances, but rather it is a deep and abiding sense of peace and contentment that comes from our relationship with God.
“For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Cor 4:17–18
Christy Ogbenjuwa (lifeasChristy)
Happy International Women’s Day.
