20-DAY CHALLENGE: LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE (DAY-13)

20-DAY CHALLENGE: LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE (Day-13)

WHAT IS PREVENTING ME FROM EXPERIENCING JOY IN MY LIFE AS A CHRISTIAN?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because
you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.
(Philemon 1:7)

MEDITATION:
The word ‘joy’ (or some form of it)
is mentioned in the scriptures over 240 times.
Since it is used that many times, we have to
believe that God wants us to have joy in our lives, right?

Some synonyms for ‘joy’ are: delight, happiness,
gladness, jubilation, rejoicing, glee, exhilaration, bliss, elation.
Sounds like something that is good for us
and those around us, doesn’t it?

Love is an ‘emotion in action’ that creates joy for others.
People are different and consequently
they express love in many different ways.
We can miss out on enjoying the love from others
if we expect them to show love in the same way that we do.

God’s desire for us is quite different than the world we live in.
Oh sure, we have some ‘feel good’ phrases that popup at times,
but overall we live in a negative environment.
Many people spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on the faults
of others, rather than looking for, and enjoying, their good qualities.
Granted, in some people the good qualities may not be easy to find,
but we have to understand that we have faults too, and God loves us anyway.

We know there are some folks who seem like they will never change;
we have a responsibility to pray for them,
and depend on God to change them, rather than
exasperating ourselves by trying to force them to change.

If we spend our life trying to change others,
we will certainly become frustrated over our failed attempts,
and this can cause us to be irritated with them, and probably
develop disdain (and possibly anger), toward them.

If we aren’t careful, we can develop
a negative attitude that affects us in the worst way.
That doesn’t sound like a formula for joy in our lives, does it?

Paul had a passion and great concern for
the souls of others and he wanted them
to fully experience the joys associated with being a Christian.
In his missionary journeys and in his letters to various churches,
he showed a desire to help them understand what they could be
missing out on, as followers of Christ.

He also wanted them to know
that they would be under attack from the evil one.
It doesn’t appear that Paul tried to change others,
but he did try to create an awareness in them of the things
that prevented them from experiencing joy in their lives.

One of the things that helped Paul in his efforts to bring
attention to the threats believers were facing was, he appeared
to focus on their outside threats, rather than their personal faults.

I don’t believe it was because he was unaware of their faults,
but his goal was to encourage them to allow the Lord
to be a greater part of their lives, rather than discourage
them by pointing out the faults they already knew they had.

This patriot of Christianity who experienced a dramatic
change in his own life (which modified his life goals)
knew that he (like others) also had faults.
He was aware of the war raging within himself,
so he fully understood how others
were also fighting battles in their lives.
Look at the comments he made about himself.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do
I do not do, but what I hate I do. (Romans 7:15)

For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not
want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not
want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in
me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want
to do good, evil is right there with me. (Romans 7:19-21)

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this
body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers
me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my
mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave
to the law of sin. (Romans 7:24-25)

Because Paul was a realist and knew the sinful nature
in his own life, he understood that the bad habits
of others were driven by this same sinful nature.
We see in Paul a genuine desire to defeat sin
and do good things, but we also see his frustrations
of not being able to overcome evil on his own.

He was not someone in denial who tried to
gloss over his own faults in an effort to
appear to be more righteous than anyone else.
Nor was he someone who lied to himself in an effort to
convince himself that he was a self-righteous person without faults.

Can’t you just sense the relief in Paul
when he expressed his thankfulness that God,
through Jesus Christ, would win the battle for him?
He knew that a sinful nature would always be with him,
but he made a choice to allow his mind to be under God’s control.
This gave Paul the ability to understand others and to remember
that God loves him unconditionally, which created joy in his own life.

When he lists the fruits of the Spirit,
we see that love, joy and peace are the first three.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such
things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

I believe that Paul knew what love, joy and peace felt like
because he experienced them in his own life.

ACTION:
If the Spirit of God is not living in us,
then we are under the control of something in opposition to God.
Rather than focusing on the faults of others and how they treat
you, be honest about your own faults and how you treat others.
Learn to enjoy the good qualities of others
and how to tolerate their bad ones.

Look at a few of the opposites of the fruits of the Spirit of God
(do any of these describe you?).
Love opposites:
    animosity, hatred, apathy, dislike, indifference.
Joy opposites:
    depression, sadness, misery, unhappiness, sorrow, discouragement.
Peace opposites:
    hatred, turmoil, worry, agitation, discord, disharmony.
Forbearance (patience) opposites:
    impatient, intolerant, resistance, insubordination.
Kindness opposites:
    animosity, hostility, selfishness, thoughtlessness, ill will.
Goodness opposites:
    evilness, wickedness, jealousy, envy, contempt, discouragement.
Faithfulness opposites:
    corrupt, dishonest, unfaithful, lying, unreliable, unstable.
Gentleness opposites:
    harshness, abruptness, coldness, covetousness, intolerance.
Self-control opposites:
    self-indulgence, excessiveness, unrestraint, self-gratification.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your unconditional love
for me! Help me to love others in the way that You love me.
Teach me how to enjoy the good qualities in others, rather
than spending too much time talking and thinking about
their faults. Remind me not to ignore their sinful ways, but
to pray for them, rather than trying to change them. Help
me to avoid being a discourager, but to be an encourager
with a confidence that when I pray for others, You will hear
my prayers and change their heart. Forgive me for allowing
myself to develop bad attitudes, which cause me to miss out
on joy in my life. Remind me of how I have made bad choices
regarding others, and how I have failed to be honest about
my own faults and failures. Teach me the joy of lifting the
spirits of others, so that I will avoid the harmful effects it
has on me when I focus only on their bad qualities. Help me
to accept myself as You do, so that I can accept others as You
do. Remind me that I too am imperfect, but because of the
sacrifice of Jesus, I can appear righteous in Your eyes.”