If joy is a fruit of the Spirit, why are Christians looking so sour? Have you looked around church lately during a worship service? How many of them look joyful? How many look tired, bored, or maybe irritated? How about you? A guest speaker came to our church in Castile, NY many years ago. He made a statement I'll never forget. He said, "Even if I hadn't met your pastor, I'd know who he is. He's the one with the glory face." He was right. Our pastor was a joyful man of God whose face reflected that fruit of the Spirit. No, he wasn't giddy or a laugh a minute. His joy was the real deal kind. It's more than happiness. It's more than a smile. It's all rather illusive and hard to define sometimes. Emotions can be tricky business, and we sometimes tend to discount them. True joy is much more than emotion, but emotion is part of it. There's nothing wrong with joy actually showing up on your face, in your step, or your actions. The ...
Positively encouraging