Christian Virtues - Joyfulness

Intro:

Good evening.

This evening I want to talk about the Christian virtue of joyfulness.

Joyfulness is important.

Life is too short to walk through it with long faces of doom and gloom all the time!

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), and being “merry” and “rejoicing” are also descriptive of the Christian life as well.

So as we begin this evening, I want to first talk about …

Those Who Have a Lack of Joy:

Lack of joy can be for various reasons, I think.

For some, a lack of joy may be indicative of a lack of thankfulness for the things God gives us, and especially for salvation.

For others, lack of joy may come from the fact that they have a lot going on — Perhaps they are going through a lot of trials at the moment, and it’s hard to find their joy.

For others still, we have an expression “don’t steal my joy,” because sadly, some folks DO seem to steal the joy of others.

What we mean by that is — the terrible attitudes of others tend to rub off on them and they end up losing the attitude of joy that they might have otherwise had.

That said — Can someone REALLY steal your joy?

(Only if you let him!)

Don’t let that person steal your joy!

Because the bottom line is that at the end of the day YOU and you alone are in control of your attitude!

So let’s talk about how …

Christians of All People Should Have the Most Joy:

We sing songs about it, do we not?

“Joyful, Joyful we adore Thee God of glory, Lord of love. Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee. Hail Thee as the sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away. Giver of immortal gladness Fill us with the light, Oh, fill us with the light of day!”

A Christian has all the reason in the world to be the biggest OPTIMIST in the world because of what he has to look forward to in Heaven!

“Joy to the World.”

Have you ever read all the lyrics?

“Joy to the world! The LORD is come. Let earth receive her King Let every heart Prepare Him room And heaven and angels sing

Joy to the world, the Saviour reigns Let Saints their songs employ While fields and floods Rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy Repeat the sounding joy Repeat, Repeat, the sounding joy

He rules the world with truth and grace (John 1:14, right?) And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness And WONDERS of His love And wonders of His love And wonders and wonders of His love

NO MORE will sin and sorrow grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He'll come and make the blessings flow Far as the curse was found, Far as the curse was found, Far as, far as the curse was found.

Rejoice! Rejoice in the Most High, While Israel spreads abroad Like stars that glitter in the sky, And ever worship God, And ever worship God, And ever, and ever worship God.

We need to sing that one all year!

And you WILL ever worship God one day if you’re a faithful Christian!

I’ve heard it said, “Every knee shall bow on judgment day, so you might as well serve Him NOW, too!”

Let’s look at what the Bible has to say about joy:

Romans 15:13

Romans 15:13 NKJV

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Does that sound like somebody who should be walking around with a frown on his face all the time and a negative attitude or a complaining attitude? (Nope)

Back up a little in Romans — Rom. 12:10-12

Romans 12:10–12 NKJV

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;

How often should we rejoice?

Php. 4:4 tells us that …

Philippians 4:4 NKJV

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

Remember, one of the things we said earlier is that some may lose their joy because they’ve got a lot they are going through, a lot of trials?

Well, James chapter 1 addresses that!

James 1:2-4

James 1:2–4 NKJV

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

We know James goes on to talk about lacking wisdom …

But let me ask you this — Is your JOY lacking?

I’ve gotta do it — I’ve got to bring in this song:

“Don’t worry. Be happy!”

Remember that song that came out in the 80s, I think?

I have an old family story — I have an aunt that that was her favorite song.

You had to tell one of her brothers one time who was having a moment: “Don’t worry, Bubba. There’s a new song called, ‘Don’t worry, be happy,’ and that’s what you need to do.”

(He cheered up). :)

Want to read Psalm 16 with me? (Wait till you see the last verse). :) (Read it)

Now, when you read that, ask yourself honestly …

Can you read that Psalm and apply it to your outlook on life?

If not, why not?

(There has to be a reason why!)

Well, finally tonight let’s talk about …

How Can We Increase Our Joy?

Number 1 — Just ask!

Jesus Christ Who we follow said in John 16:24 - “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be FULL.”

If you are struggling to find the fruit of the Spirit that is JOY this evening, may I suggest that you ask the Lord to help you find it?! :)

Number 2 - When you DO find joy, don’t lose it!

“Buy the truth and sell it not!” (Prov. 23:23) — Right?!

And what will the truth do? (Set us FREE — John 8:32)

And what will we have when we are set free from our sin?!

Love, and peace, and hope, and JOY, right?!

And so, might we also say, “Buy JOY and sell it not?!”

I think we can!

Joy that can only come … through an obedient faith to the Word of God! :)

Number 3 — I told you not to lose your joy! But let’s say you have …

What then?

The answer is — Maybe you need to reassess some things …

Maybe you need to ask some questions …

Maybe you need to ask, “What things in my life are not allowing me to have the JOY that God intends for a Christian to have?”

Maybe you need to examine whether or not those are things you want IN your life!

Maybe, just maybe, you need to REMOVE some of those things from your life?!

And when you do, maybe, just maybe, you’ll reclaim all of that joy that is in Christ Jesus and you’ll ask, “Why didn’t I get rid of all that baggage a long time ago?!”

Invitation:

Maybe all that baggage isn’t just some neutral thing, some distraction that isn’t necessarily sinful but still is interfering with your joy …

But maybe it IS a sin that you are allowing to drag you down as a Christian.

And so you are essentially a Christian who’s trying with all his might to climb up to the top of Zion’s mountain, but …

But you’ve got all this sin weighing you down!

You’ve got “too much in your pack,” and the hike’s not going so well!

Why don’t you throw all of that out, and realize just how much more JOYFUL the climb will be when you do!

Heb. 12:1-2 - I quote it often, because it’s SUCH a good motivator!

Hebrews 12:1–2 NKJV

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

(Give invitation).