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 John 17:13, Jesus expresses a great desire – He wants us to enjoy His joy: “These things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” One of “these things” found in the immediate context is love. The first part of John 13 is the account of Jesus taking the role of a servant and demonstrating love by washing His disciples’ feet. In John 13:34, Jesus gives the great commandment to love each other just as He loves us. John 14:15, 21, and 23 all connect love to the specific behavior of keeping the beneficent and beneficial commandments of a loving God. John 16:27 reaffirms the love of God the Father for us. The entire section closes with john 17:26, a verse which insists that the love within the Triune Godhead is the same love that is lavished on us.
It is impossible to construct a love that does not include joy. Likewise, it is not possible to conceive of a joy that is absent love. Both love and joy are blessed attributes of God and thus cannot be separated to stand alone. Joyous love and loving joy – to think of one is to think of the other. Let us then love our God and each other, for only then can His joy be fulfilled in us.