1 Peter 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
When I was young we sang the following song in Children’s Church:
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart!
Where?
Down in my heart!
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Down in my heart to stay
And I’m so happy
So very happy
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart
Down in my heart
And I’m so happy
So very happy
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart.
I think about this song and I have great memories of my time in children church and Sunday school. There are two things that stand out to me about this song as I sing it in my head today.
The first verse talks about having joy in our heart. The second verse tells us where the joy we can have comes from. The love of Jesus. To have real joy in our life we need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
We have to be careful with our definition of joy. Webster’s dictionary defines joy as “a feeling of happiness that comes from success or good fortune.” This definition makes me sad, but aligns with the way the world views things. If you have money, if things are going well, then you have joy. The problem is what happens when these things aren’t happening? What happens when you aren’t successful or good fortune doesn’t come your way? I have read a biblical definition of joy as “the extreme happiness with which a believer contemplates salvation and the bliss of the afterlife.” The joy we have comes because we know we are loved by Jesus and have accepted His gift of salvation. With the gift of salvation comes a promise of eternity with Jesus. I don’t think we spend enough time really thinking about how much Jesus really loves us and all he has done for us to bring us into a relationship with Him. We spend so much time thinking about the difficulties, we forget about what God has done for us, is doing for us, and will do for us in the future. Spend some time thinking about Heaven and spending eternity with Jesus and you will have a hard time not being joyful.
The second thing I think about is a problem I run into now, even with myself, is that many Christians have the joy of the Lord in their heart but that is where it stays. Most people walking by can’t tell that they have joy because they don’t let it show! Have you ever been so happy you couldn’t speak? You see it on youtube videos when people are surprised with good things, a new car, a wedding proposal, we say they are speechless. This makes me think of the verse above, 1 Peter 1:8… you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. The word used in the greek for inexpressible means unspeakable. As Christians we should share our joy verbally, but we should go beyond that. People should be able to tell we have joy even when we aren’t speaking it! The verse says we are filled with joy. It shouldn’t just be our heart but all that we are should be filled with joy.
Imagine the impact it would have on people we encounter if we lived out being filled with joy daily. What better way to spread the joy that God has given us then by letting others see how joyful we are. Let the joy in your heart flow out in ways that others can see it!