Develop a Joy Habit

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you… Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
1 Peter 1:3-4; 8-9

The dictionary defines joy as “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying.” For those of us who call ourselves Christian, that something is not a thing at all but a who - Jesus Christ, the Risen One, the Son of God - I AM. Joy in my opinion is something much greater than happiness. Happiness can be fleeting, if we desire only happiness it becomes easy to sink into despair, to wallow in self-pity when things aren’t going according to our plan. Joy, on the other hand is dependent on the cause of joy and in this case the cause is Jesus, who is the Alpha and Omega, eternal and ever present, which means we can be filled always with what this week’s passage calls inexpressible and glorious joy. 

Ok, I can hear some of you groaning already. You can’t possibly know what I am going through; life is just too hard to be joyful right now. See that’s just my point - you are right I may not know what you are going through, but I have faced my own tough times so I know how hard it can be to keep the faith and let that amazing joy fill me. Perhaps you noticed that I left some verses out from this week’s passage. These missing verses talk about how we can rejoice in God’s protection but that we will have to face all sorts of trials - this life will give us much grief, but those things are meant to build our faith in the One we can’t see right now - the One responsible for joy. Joy that can be felt when we are exhausted, when we are in pain, when the storm is raging and of course in those moments when all feels right in our world.

We need to develop a joy habit - but how? First and most important is to remember that no matter what - joy is there just under the surface waiting to burst forth and soothe our souls - all because of Jesus. So what can we do to keep that joy flowing? Daily we need to praise and glorify the One responsible for the joy in the first place. We need to practice trusting God with every part of our lives. We must love others sincerely - remember the greatest commands that fulfill the whole law are to love God and love others. We must also remember - that God loved us even while we were sinners - so we need to show the same mercy and grace to others. We must fill our mind with good things-meditate on all that you have to be thankful for - not just the big things but the little things too. Caring for others with acts of compassion and kindness will develop that joy habit. 

So what’ll it be this week? Will you search for happiness in things that are only temporary or in other flawed humans or will you tap into the inexpressible joy that is given by an amazing and eternal God? Join me in developing a joy habit!

A Prayer
Father – like your servant Peter, may we give you all the praise. Thank you for the new life filled with hope, inexpressible and glorious joy. Lord, you know how easily we let the world, our circumstances and other people take that joy from us - help us to develop a joy habit. You’re your help we can have joy in even the midst of life’s storms. Thanks you for Your mercy and grace, love and compassion, thank you for the never ending inheritance we have through Jesus - in whose name we pray, Amen.