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.)
We continue today to meditate on the implications of II John 4 and III John 3-4. Because God is the ultimate source of joy (and the source of ultimate joy), His people should also be sources of joy to others. We have distinguished happiness from joy in our relationships in two ways: length of time and closeness of connection. A third distinctive is depth of commitment. I have given small donations to strangers in need; probably most of us have done the same. Anyone in need is happy to receive help, and most of us are happy to give. However, it is rare that a real relationship ripens through such interaction. Depth of commitment requires time, closeness, and extended effort. Unfortunately, a generation living on social media is losing both depth and commitment, for neither fits the rapid reposts and ripostes that characterize current communication. As Christians, we have the opportunity to show an increasingly angry world what good relationships are made of. Since our relationship with God includes joy, we must mirror this joy in our interactions with fellow Christians and others who are close to us.