“The Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17 (NLT)
What’s the easiest thing for you to lose? Your glasses? Your keys? Your mind?
All of those things are easy to lose, but the easiest thing of all to lose is your joy. You can lose it with one phone call or email, a letter or conversation. You even can watch a commercial and lose your joy by becoming discontent with your own circumstances or possessions. Joy is so easy to lose.
It not only feels bad when you lose your joy—but when God’s children aren’t filled with joy, it also makes God look bad. Cranky Christians are bad witnesses. They look like they’ve been baptized in vinegar because they’re never really smiling. And that makes God look bad.
God wants his children to be witnesses with their countenances. As Proverbs 15:13 says, “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face” (GW).
The Bible tells us that the Christian life can be summed up in three words: goodness, peace, and joy. Romans 14:17 says, “The Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (NLT).
Though joy is key to the Christian life, the reality is that you can lose your joy so quickly and in so many ways. There are thousands of killjoys that will rob you of your joy, even to the point that somebody like Jeremiah, a prophet of God, could say this in Lamentations 5:15: “There is no joy left in our hearts” (GW).
I don’t know if that’s where you are today. Maybe you feel like you’ve lost your spark and you’re not as close to God as you used to be. Maybe you’re just going through the motions of life. If that’s how you feel, you need to know that—just like it’s easy to lose your joy—it’s also quite easy to get your joy back.
So how do you get your joy back? The first step is to admit that you’ve lost it.
If you’re not sure if you’ve lost your joy, do this simple exercise. Look at your past and ask yourself a couple of questions: Has there ever been a time in your life when you felt closer to God than you do right now? Has there ever been a time in your life when you were more joyful in the Lord than you are right now?
If the answer is yes, then you’ve lost your joy. And now is the time to get it back.
Do what David did in Psalm 51:12. He knew he’d lost his joy, and he knew God was the only one who could give it back to him. So he prayed, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (NIV).
God restored David’s joy, and he’s ready to do the same for you. All you have to do is ask. It’s the first step in reclaiming your joy.
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