True Joy

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” - John 15:11

Some say marriage is one of the best experiences in life, or maybe the birth of your first child finds its way ahead of marriage on your list. You might even consider the best experience in life to be having enough money to afford the finer things in life.

Those are all things that can make us happy. But something in marriage happens, it's called life. The honeymoon ends. Those beautiful newborns grow up and we find our smiles exchanged with tears and frustration. Money fades and even when it lasts, it only offers a shallow happiness.

I find myself just going through the motions of life way too often. Just scraping enough of the goodness of God to get me through the day. The crumbs from His table become my breakfast, lunch and dinner. So I find myself always hungry and unsatisfied with my own worldly pursuit of happiness and how it never satisfies.

I have to constantly remember where real joy comes from. Not the temporary, fleeting kind happiness so many crave. The joy of the Lord. The joy that fills my soul and overflows so much that others can share in my joy as well. The unmatched, unconditional joy that only comes from our daily, and for me sometimes minute-by-minute, walking with Jesus. Our goal should be to pray for God to grant us the strength to always find our joy in Jesus, and the fact that only Jesus can bring us true joy.

TJ