Join in the Joy
Through the years, I have frequently preached about joy. It is more than an emotion (although it includes emotion); rather, it is a settled attitude, a stable and sturdy approach to life that focuses us on the things that matter now and forever. Joy is much greater and much more powerful than happiness, which is event or circumstance driven. There is nothing wrong with happiness. It is certainly better than unhappiness. Also, we have different personalities. For example, my wife is happy-go-lucky. Of course, she has every reason to be, being married to me. However, not everyone can be married to me. We need something more substantial than happiness; that something is joy. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
In Philippians 1:26-27, the Apostle Paul spoke about the power of shared joy. He returns to this thought in Philippians 2:2: “Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” Paul knew that joy worked in both directions: he could help the Philippians to abound in joy, and they could do the same for him. We have already seen that Paul’s immediate circumstance was straitening, for he was imprisoned. Still, he insisted on joy. The church in Philippi also had substantial problems, including conflict between two ladies, Euodias and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2-3). The matter was not doctrinal; otherwise, Paul would have directly addressed the debated point. No, this was a personality clash. Perhaps Euodias found Syntyche too preachy, (“Did you see how she was dressed?”). Such sad and unseemly spats are a stain and strain on the assembly of the saints. Paul asked the Philippians, including these two warring women, to choose the road of reconciliation and thus add to his joy. May we desire to fulfill the joy of others by “being of one accord, of one mind.”