Monday, January 30, 2023
Jesus was a delight to be around, are you? What’s missing when self-pity and harshness, or cruelty, is the expression of a person? Joy and happiness! And the problem with self-pity and harsh character traits is they fail to introduce the way to joy and happiness in the Lord gained through Jesus’s command, “Rejoice.” Jesus said, "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven… (Matthew 5:12a [KJV]).
When experiencing many Christians, the first thing that comes to mind is…well, not delight or happiness; it is gloom and doom. Rather than being a delight and joy to be around, lots of Christians identify with being dreadful and disappointing to the reality of joyfulness. One might ask, “Why is this?” It’s the case because Christians are focused on the wrong things. Typically they center on worldly happenstances (circumstances, situations, and relationships) rather than being joyful and happy in the Lord personally, where others reap the rewards of happiness from what they do.
Joy and happiness show up when Christians understand we are not lost in sins or failures of life. We rejoice in those difficult things and learn from them like good things. The Apostle Paul, in prison, understood this character teaching when he said, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)” Paul, like many Christians throughout history, tells us to rejoice in the LORD because it’s something we can always do no matter what’s happening outwardly. The invitation to gain joy and happiness is always open through Jesus’s command, “Rejoice.” Therefore, I invite those who struggle with rejoicing to learn it to gain a Christlike attitude.
The feeling of joy and serving happiness is integrated into life when a person rejoices. If understood and followed, a deep sense of joy is experienced through a good state of mind (attitude), as seen through Jesus serving others happily. The key, though, is the first three teachings of Jesus, “Repent (Matthew 4:17),” “Be Born Again (John 3:7),” and “Follow Me (Matthew 4:19),” must be in place actively. If they are, then the character teaching of “Rejoice (Matthew 5:12)” follows when applying the “Beatitudes” first taught by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-12).” To gain joy, that is, the fullness of life, and to deliver happiness requires the beatitudes to be in place to reap the rewards of heaven — joy and happiness.
To induct and honor the character teaching of “Rejoice,” this day, I encourage each to choose to be like Jesus, delightful, by stopping toxic attitudes like self-pity and harshness in who you are and what you do. Do so by learning and applying the first three character teachings of Christ and the beatitudes. Dispute toxic character habits, and please put an end to being cruel to yourself and others by thinking like Christ. Think like Jesus to show the world how great the rewards are in the Christian faith, where Christian Character Counts through rejoicing always!
With joy and happiness,