Per Webster's dictionary:
happy (adjective) -- enjoying or characterized by well-being or contentment
joy (noun) -- the emotion evoked by well-being, success or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires
Happy and joy are truly two different words. One is an adjective -- it describes something. The other is a noun -- something that you can have. Although I believe that many of us do realize that happy and joy are not the same thing, we invariably confuse the two words. A person can have joy without exhibiting happiness. However, a person may not exhibit happiness without possessing joy. True joy does not come from external, material things, but it comes from deep within.
True joy that can mark our lives comes from the relationship that we have with our heavenly Father. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy. When we make the eternal transaction with Jesus, giving our old lives to Him in exchange for the life originally intended for us, we begin to live in the Spirit. When we live in the Spirit, we will possess the fruits of the Spirit. Living in a relationship with Jesus allows us to have a deep and abiding joy. It is not a type of joy that makes us giddy and perky, but a joy that provides us with a hope... a hope that nothing is impossible with God. We can have this joy even in the deepest moments of sorrow and when we weather the strongest storm of our lives. But it is a joy that provides us with the hope that God will see us through and that He really does catch us in the fall.
You really can examine your life and note if you truly walk with an uncircumstantial joy. Does your happiness extend from a joy that is based on a relationship with our Heavenly Father? Or does your happiness and joy come from what is happening in the moment? Living with the solid joy of hope is truly the only place you will ever want to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment