Survivor Secrets: 1 Way to Grow and Maintain your Joy

The fruit of the Spirit is ...  Joy! 

 Galatians 5:22

Joy is a rare and precious commodity these days. Many people don't have it but they crave it, fake it, make excuses for it and expect it. But Joy is found in that one thing. That one thing is the stuff that makes Joy real. Your one thing will make the difference in whether you will go through your pain glowing while you're growing.

Happiness versus Joy: what's the difference?

😃Marry me and I will be the happiest man on earth! 

😃Having my baby girl/boy was the happiest day of my life! 

😃I'm so happy to see you! I missed you very much!

😃He makes me so happy I could just burst!

I hear these expressions everyday but I don't hear many persons talking about their joy. Why not? 

Well, both produce pleasant emotions but there is a GIGANTIC, life-changing, mood-altering difference. Here it is:

Happiness, my friend, is temporary and depends on the situation. Days, events and people connected with positive emotions make us feel good like nothing could ever go wrong ever again... That is happiness! 

Mmmmm... happiness feels so good! 

Isn't that the same as Joy? Feeling good about things, and events and people we love? Well, not quite. You see, Joy, a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)becomes a part of us that never changes regardless of the things, the events or the people that we encounter in the various seasons of life we experience. Now, that's a BIG difference.

Read this short but very interesting article about joy versus happiness from a psychologist's point of view.

FYI: Everybody Has Issues

There is the undeniable feature you will notice about me if we've ever met and that's my smile. Many persons ask me how come I smile so much. 

Every day I encounter persons with a truck load of problems that cripple their joy! Then, I realized something absolutely phenomenal! I'll give you one guess... 

I realized that Everybody has problems! 

Everyone who has ever lived on planet Earth- and I'm sure about this- has felt uncomfortable at least once in their lifetime. I don't know about you but I hate being uncomfortable whether it's by natural causes such as hunger or applied suffering such as painful new shoes. Oh boy! It's no wonder people are puzzled about this smile I wear every day. Let me tell you how and maybe, just maybe, you can smile from the inside out too. It's in my one thing. It's that one thing that makes me smile from my tippy toes up to my crown. My entire body becomes one with the action of smiling regardless of what I'm going through in that season!

What's your one thing? What's that one thing that keeps you going every day when you're tired, when your supervisor or boss is breathing down your neck, when you're in pain or when your children have you on a roller coaster of negative emotions? Do you have it? Is it a positive one thing? 

Your one thing will make the difference in whether you will go through your pain glowing while you're growing.

That One Thing

My one thing is gratitude. I walk in a spirit of gratitude. That's my one thing. 

I smile from a place deep inside that has been trained to be grateful. 

Hey, I can't lie to you about this: let’s be real with each other. The truth is I have felt the pain of loss, betrayal, illness, depression, lack and hopelessness before. I've been to death's door and back. And that is the cost I paid for this smile. I learnt to say like Paul that no matter what state I am in, I am learning to be content (Philippians 4:11). I realize that all problems have an expiry date. Yes, pain is real, but pain will not last forever. 

I know it could be worse, he or she could be worse, my situation could be worse but! 

'But' changes everything. I trust in God's love 💖 for me and that nothing can happen that He has not allowed for a wise purpose (Romans 8:28). People come and go, pain, stresses of all kinds but God's love for me hasn't changed and for that and all he does for me, for us... I am grateful.

What's Your One Thing?

So, what's your one thing? Does it give you joy in the trials? Does it support a gentle spirit in you? Does it encourage your peace even though the world around you is falling apart?

Share with us in the comments your one thing and why. Is there anything you would change? Why?

Sharing may just save a life!

God bless you.