What Christians Need To Know About Creating More Joy
I love this scripture…
“For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Romans 14:17
Now think with me for minute. Everything in life that we do, think or say can be summed up in a very simple step-by-step procedure like this…
BELIEF produces a CONDITION that leads to an EXPRESSION.
Take for instance those nights when you are alone at your house and hear a strange noise. For a moment, you BELIEVE that someone is trying to break into your home. All those images from too many scary movies flash across your mind.
That belief creates a CONDITION of fear in your heart. You’ve probably experienced that torment, as I have.
This condition leads to an EXPRESSION of some sort. Perhaps you run and hide, lie paralyzed with fear in your bed or grab a weapon and confront the villain, real or imagined.
Now, let’s take the verse above and apply it to this procedure. Paul is telling us that the BELIEF of one’s own righteousness in Christ produces a CONDITION of peace in the heart that results in the EXPRESSION of joy!
Let’s break it down like this....
I. BELIEF - RIGHTEOUSNESS
The verse says that the initial step in the process is believing in one’s own righteousness. We must put our trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross as a basis for our righteousness before God. Consider these verses:
Philippians 3:9 “And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”
Colossians 1:12 “Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”
Romans 4:3 “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’”
What makes us righteous before God is when we put our faith in what Jesus did for us at the cross. This belief, then, leads to a condition.
II. CONDITION - PEACE
The verse mentions peace as a condition in the heart. When we fully trust what Jesus did for us at the cross, it produces a deep, settled peace in our hearts.
Consider these verses:
Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Being at peace with God is necessary for being at peace with yourself and others. This peace, then, will lead to a certain expression.
III. EXPRESSION - JOY
The verse we started with says that the expression of our peace is joy.
Joy, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is the expression of “well-being, success, or good fortune.” One could see how peace, based upon the understanding of our righteousness, could create this type of expression.
Now, concerning expression, any and all human expressions come in one or more of these three ways…
1. Thoughts
2. Words
3. Deeds
Joy, therefore, produces thoughts of well-being, success, or good fortune, words of well-bing, success and good fortune and deeds of well-bing, success and good fortune.
What are your thoughts, words and deeds?
Consider these verses regarding joy…
Nehemiah 8:10b “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”
CONCLUSION: Here’s the cool part about all of this: The words deeds and thoughts we express feed back into what we believe and help take us deeper into this cycle!
To say it another way, what we believe produces a condition in our hearts that expresses itself in words deeds and thoughts – which reaffirms what we believe that produces a condition in our hearts that expresses itself in words, deeds and thoughts - which reaffirms what we believe that produces a condition in our hearts that expresses itself in words, deeds and thoughts, etc., etc., etc.
Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”