LIVING AS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS (part-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 should believe that God wants us to have joy
in our lives, wouldn’t you agree?

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 can express love in different ways. We can miss out on
enjoying love from others if we expect them to show love in the same way we do.

God’s desire for us is quite different than the world we live in. There may be
some ‘feel good’ phrases that popup at times, but overall, we live in a negative
environment.

Some 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 easily found, but we need to
understand that we have faults too, and yet, 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 the Lord
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 become
more irritated with them, which could result in 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 follower of Jesus. In his missionary journeys and in his letters to
various churches, Paul showed a desire to help them understand
what they could be missing out on, as followers of Christ.

He also wanted them to know how they would be under attack from
the evil one. It doesn’t appear that Paul tried to change others, but
instead, he tried 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:
    Rather than focusing on their personal faults,
    he seemed to focus on their outside threats.

Paul probably wasn’t 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 discouraging them by pointing out their faults,
which they probably 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?
    (Romans 7:24)

Because Paul was a realist and knew the sinful nature in his own life,
he understood how 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 other people. He wasn’t a guy
who lied to himself, so he could consider himself as 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 how God loves him unconditionally,
which created joy in his own life.
    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 7:25)

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)

We can see 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 that opposes God. Rather than focusing on the faults of others
and how they treat us, we need to be honest about our own faults and how
we treat others. We need to 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 thinking and talking about
their faults. Remind me not to ignore their sinfulness, 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 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.”

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