“When you choose to be cheerful each day, every day will bring you more joy and fullness.” Proverbs 15:15.
Starting each day with a positive frame of mind will set one’s course for a happy day.
It is good to be reminded that we have the power to direct our emotions; emotions don’t have to be our master.
Many times in the Bible, we are instructed to be cheerful and joyful. This would be meaningless if we were automatically under the control of our moods.
Here are some powerful motivators to joy:
· Start each day with gratitude. Being thankful for family, friends, a beautiful garden or a sunrise, will fuel your capacity for joy throughout the day. “Your attitude of gratitude will affect your altitude.”
· Joy is the result of the company we keep. Spending time with a positive, cheerful friend can be a powerful encouragement to joy.
In the Bible Jesus is described as the happiest individual in the Universe (see Hebrews 1:9). Spending time with Him in worship and prayer can help lift your spirits and put a smile on your face.
· In the Gospel there is amazing explanatory power that provides answers to the big questions of life. This in turn provides life with meaning.
This can result in joy, because life begins to make some sense. G.K. Chesterton said: “Joy is the central feature of life for the Christian, but sorrow is peripheral; because the fundamental questions of life are answered by his faith.
But for the unbeliever, sorrow is central and joy peripheral, because only the peripheral questions are answered and the central ones remain unanswered.”
· Generosity has power to increase your joy. A Scientific study that was reported in a TED talk in 2011, by Michael Norton who said that the universal principle they observed was that “money can buy happiness”, but only when you give it away.
This can be illustrated by the following: “They are very poor, but they gave much because of their great joy.
They gave as much as they were able and even more than they could afford.” 2 Corinthians 8:2-3.
· What Jesus had to say was intended by Him, to bring us 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.
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10.
