Joy is not just a happy feeling based on circumstance or the things we possess. It is an unshakable stability in our inner man (spirit) joy can range anywhere from calm delight to extreme hilarity. The joy of the lord is our strength (Neh 8:10)
These are 5 life changing essentials to maintaining your joy and keeping your spirit vibrant. A joyful heart is good medicine and we need all the ‘’medicine’’ we can get in a world filled with so much negativity.
Simplify your life.
Don’t try to do too much. If you want to live a less complicated life, you have to simplify your life. If you’re too busy, I suggest that you take an hour and write down everything you are doing or want to do. Then look at which events are not bearing fruits and mark them off your list. Spend more time with people who care about you.
Be quick to forgive
Joy is restored to your life when you learn how to forgive and forget. And these two virtues go together. Many ties, we try to forgive people but forgiveness can’t do its redemptive work because we want to remember what they did to us. We continue to think and talk about them.
Renew your mind.
One of the greatest battle fields in any person is their mind. And one of the most common strategies of the enemy is to infect your mind with negative thoughts. Renewing your mind outs a bolt on the door to this entry gate through which the enemy seeks to come in and steal our joy.
Control your tongue
The power of life and death is in the tongue. This statement also applies to us. It means that we can speak life or death into our hearts with our words. And if the enemy sees an open door to your mind, he will begin to take over your tongue.
Direct your emotions
Many people say you can’t control what you feel, but you what? They’re wrong. You can and must learn to direct your emotions in healthy ways; because if you don’t, they will control you. And being controlled by your emotions is unhealthy and dangerous.
Always remember that no one can make you feel anything. We choose to feel certain ways. It is your choice to allow your emotions free reign or to bring them into submission.
Bonus!
Pray!
Do not displace the place of prayer. We often use prayer as our last option when it should be our first. Talk to him, he is listening.
If we want to keep our joy, and if we want it to grow in our hearts and spread to all those around us, we need to begin doing these six things today. Lock the entryways that the enemy uses to steal our joy, and begin creating an environment where joy will grow and thrive.
