As I think about Christianity, I try to boil it down to its essentials. What is the very heart of my faith? In one word, I think it must be love. I think that this is written on our hearts. We are born with a need for love. And love is inseparable from joy. In short we are hard-wired to love and be loved. The greatest joy that we as human beings…… children of God…….. can know is to love and to be loved. To love without being loved in return is a close second. If you think about it, love is central to a mature relationship with God.
So we need to explore love and joy. I have often said that I have the most valuable skill that a man can know. I have learned how to be happy……to live with joy. Surprisingly, this skill is not universal. In fact, it is uncommon enough that when we see somebody who is filled with joy we take notice.
So how do we become filled with joy? Try getting up tomorrow…… and telling yourself “Today I will be joyous!” Good luck……… we both know that it doesn’t work that way.
Joy just seems to happen. It often just sneaks up on you……right out of the blue. But, is there a way to put yourself in joy’s path……. to set yourself up for joy? I think that there is. And it has to do with the relationship between joy and love.
Joy grows out of love.
One of the rules that I live by is this: “When you are faced with a problem…… focus on the part of the problem that you can control.” I believe that joy comes from love. There is no lasting path to joy other than through love. I will concede that you can go out and buy something and experience a brief burst of joy. I experience this when I buy an exceptional new hand plane……. or a fishing rod…….. or a shotgun. Your list will be different. But, the rush of joy that you get from buying stuff lasts for hours……. days at the most. Shopaholics spend their lives and their money trying to buy lasting joy. Alcoholics try to drink it. You get the point.
So if love is the key to joy…….. then how do we find it? We cannot create love in others. We cannot MAKE people love us. We cannot buy love……and it’s about the only thing that we can’t find on line. So if we are to find love……we must focus on the part of the problem that we can control. And when it comes to love…… the only thing that we can control is how we love others. This is the genius of God, Christ, and the Holy spirit. This is the genius of Christianity.
Two “rules”…………Love God……Love your neighbor.
This is something you can control. You can WILL this to be. And when you do this…… trust me…….the joy will come. And even better……… the joy will stay.
So how do we love?
The heart of love is to focus on the well being of others. This means sometimes putting their needs ahead of your own. This often means forgiving their failures……. maybe even their crimes. If you do this well you may create joy in your target. You will create joy in yourself. I will concede that there are people who will stay angry and mean even after you love them……… love them anyway. The power of love………over time……….will wear them down…… and you will both be better for it.
1 Corinthians 13 includes the best description of love on this planet.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
This universal truth is a huge part of the reason that I am a Christian.
So……. you want joy? You want happiness?
Then love God and those around you. Do this by serving them and caring for them. The joy will come……… and it will endure……and it will spread.