Here is a key task for spiritual vitality: We must arrange life so that sin no longer looks good to us. One gets the sense that when Mother Teresa drove in congested traffic, she didn’t have a hard time keeping herself from make rude gestures or calling other drivers bad names. Why? Such actions no longer looked appealing to her. She found a better way to live. The joy of the Lord brought strength.
I think the time has come, strange as it sounds, for us to take joy seriously.
You can become a joyful person. With God’s help, it really is possible. The biblical writers would not command it if it were not so. But joyfulness is a learned skill. You must take responsibility for your joy. Not your friend, not your parent, not your spouse, not your kids, not your boss – your joy is your responsibility. For some of us, this does not come easily. You may be joy-imparired. You will have to fight for it. But it can be done.
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When I read this about a week ago, it made me laugh.
Reading it a second time made me chuckle.
Thinking over some things this past weekend made this come back up…
Now, I think I’m joy-impaired. That’s sad.
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Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
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sin, the beautiful enchantress that diverts our eyes from our true love. i hear you man…joy is hard to find when we keep looking for it in the wrong place
just by reading that I know I’m joy-impaired.
Sin clouds our heart and minds. I’m glad that Jesus can wash it away. That sounds like a good book. I’m going to check it out.