What if the way to always have joy was simple?
Well it seems that Paul had that. Here's the backstory…Paul was excited to go preach in Rome but ends up thrown in prison. However, prison was the very thing God used to keep him safe to be in Rome and still advance the gospel!
Although his conditions isn’t what he wants them to be, the gospel is going forward. And so he is joyful. Because his perspective wasn’t on this world. He was too busy caring about the next world to come. He was passionate about sharing the gospel.. and since that was happening he was joyful!
His joy wasn’t related to his status
His joy wasn’t related to his freedom
His joy wasn’t related to success or money
His joy wasn’t related To a good reputation
But it was all related to the spreading Jesus to all the world.
His joy was in the ministry of Christ.
He was passionate to spread Jesus to all the world. And so he was joyful.
The measure to your joy isn't about how you react when things go well, but how you handle when things don't go well. Think back to the last really bad day that you had, or difficult moment. Did you completely lose your joy in that moment? If we fall apart when our lives fall apart, we expose where we find our joy.
“To LIVE is CHRIST, to die is gain.” is one of my favorite verses from this chapter. It means that living is all about spreading Christ, and when we die, we’ll be better off since we will be with HIm.
🫶🏼 Think about it this way: You've been rescued from eternal pain and emptiness, and been given eternity in paradise with the Creator of everything that is good, and it's not because of anything good you've done. It's only because of the good that HE’S done. Jesus, in his love for us, took the punishment we deserved, & in return, gave us the gift of abundant eternal life. And not just any life, a life filled with mission, purpose & joy. Where do we find that mission joy & purpose? By copying Paul, & sharing what Jesus did for us with as many people as we can.