What Jesus Said about Self Love

This is week five of our “What Jesus Said About Emotions” series. And emotions are a part of each one of us.  God created us as emotional beings, within the first three chapters of the story we watch the first couple as they experience loneliness, joy, love, envy, fear and shame. 

And we are all to some degree emotional people, some more so and others to a lesser degree but we all feel and experience emotions.  Or at least we are supposed to.  And so when I started the series the first of May there were probably weren’t any surprises.  And the first four messages were pretty easy to figure out.  Week one was “What Jesus said About Love”, week two was “What Jesus Said About Hate”, week three was “What Jesus Said About Fear” and then last week we looked at “What Jesus Said About Joy”.  And those were easy, you knew what was coming.  We should love, we should be happy and we ought to avoid hating people and feeling afraid.   No big surprises there.  Those of you who grab the note taking guides off the information table could have probably filled in the blanks yourself. 

Next week we are making a shift, we are going to start our Series on “What Jesus said About Himself”, and through the summer we are going to look at all the “I Am” statements that Jesus made, you know: “I am the vine”, “I am the Light of the World”, “I am the Bread of Life”  etc. etc.

But this is the last week of our series on emotions.  I thought about preaching on envy, worry or depression and any one of those would have been good topics, relevant subjects.  And to a certain degree we have touched on those a little bit in the first four messages.  When I spoke about anger I mentioned that we often became angry because of envy, we become angry because others have what we don’t have.  When I spoke about fear we touched on worry, and how that eventually produces fear and last week I spoke about Joy and to a certain degree the flip side of that is depression. 

So where are we going today?  Today I want to focus on “How you feel about yourself” and so this morning we are looking at “What Jesus said about Self Love.”  And that one isn’t so easy is it?  There are probably those of you who are thinking “Well we aren’t supposed to love ourselves, didn’t Denn pay attention to the scripture reading?  Love God and Love others.”    And for many that is the bottom line, it should never be about self, that’s why we are taught to be selfless not selfish.  It’s why within the church we find those who celebrate the Mother Theresas in life and scorn the Madonnas.  Theresa is celebrated for not thinking of herself while it is felt that Madonna only thinks about herself. 

But is that what Jesus really taught?  Did he teach his apostles to feel nothing but scorn for who they are and what they are?  There are certainly those out there who would suggest that.  Anyone who watched or read “The Da Vinci Code” remembers the villain of the piece was a monk named Silas, who was part of a Catholic organization called “Opus Dei” Probably the most disturbing images in the movie and the book revolved around Silas punishing himself, first with the cilice, a small chain with inward pointing spikes worn around the upper thigh for up to two hours a day and secondly through flagellation that is whipping himself with a whip called a discipline.  And while “The Da Vinci Code” was fiction and the portrayal of Opus Dei was somewhat less than accurate there have been Christian factions through the centuries who have promoted very similar philosophies.  And those practices were designed to remind people of how unworthy there were in the eyes of God and how unworthy they should consider themselves in their own eyes. 

And I would challenge that.  Let’s listen to Jesus words again.  Mark 12:29-31 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”   

A little background here, Jesus had begun the day teaching the crowds who had gathered and was interrupted first by the Pharisees and the Herodians who challenged him with questions about taxation trying to trap him.  And then it was the Sadducees who wanted to debate his views on the resurrection of the dead.  Now one of the teachers of religious law asks Jesus “Of all the commandments which is the most important?”  And Jesus reaches back into the Old Testament for his answer. The first part of his answer comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.  And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.”  And then he adds to that  Leviticus 19:18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”

And this is the first time we see these two commandments tied together.  And because they are the words of Jesus, and because he identifies them as being so important we work at it.  We really try and make an effort to Love God and  Love Others. 

And we focus on the part about “Love the Lord your God”  and “Love your neighbour” but the how we are to love is defined along with the who we should love.   You are to love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.  And you are to love your neighbour how?  “As yourself”.   It was Sebastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort who said “If you must love your neighbor as yourself, it is at least as fair to love yourself as your neighbor.”

Some people spend so much love on God and others they have none left for themselves

And like math if one part of the formula is flawed the whole formula is flawed.  From my experience in life I have discovered that people who don’t love themselves have a hard time loving others, and that people who don’t love themselves don’t accomplish very much and people who don’t love themselves have a hard time with grace because they can’t understand how much God loves them. 

And frankly I think we do ourselves and our God a grave disservice when we can’t find it within ourselves to love His greatest creation.  Time after time the scriptures speak of God’s love for us.  He loved us so much that he was willing to sacrifice his son for us.  And then we have the audacity to challenge that love and negate that sacrifice by scorning ourselves and demeaning ourselves.   

In the story of creation, after God had created the world, after he had cast the milky way into the evening sky, after he separated the day from the night and set the eagle free and designed the giraffe, then he created man in his own image and said “This is Good”. 

Throughout the Gospels Jesus takes the time again and again to remind his apostle just how much God cares for them and loves them, and over and over he challenges people to love their neighbours, but not just love them in some undefined nebulous manner but to love their neighbours as they love themselves.  And those have to go hand in hand.  You can’t love yourself more then you love those around you but you shouldn’t love yourself less either.  I love what Whoopi Goldberg  said “I've learned to take time for myself and to treat myself with a great deal of love and respect `cause I like me.... I think I'm kind of cool.”

Through the years I have met literally thousands of people, we all have.  Think of the neighbours you have had through the years, the roommates, the friends, even family that have drifted in and out of your life.  The one constant is you, you will always have to live with yourself, and so it really is in your best interest to learn to love that person that you are going to spend the rest of your life with.  It was Kurt Vonnegut Jr. who said “There's only one me, and I'm stuck with him.”

So why do we find it so hard to love ourselves? 

1) We Listen to Others  Some people have spent their lives being minimized by others.  They have listened to other’s telling them they don’t measure up.  Perhaps it was their parents, who spoke those cutting words, “You’re slow” “You’re stupid”  “You’re fat”  “You won’t amount to anything”  “Why are you like that?”  “Why can’t you be like your brother, sister, friend.” 

Or maybe it was the other kids at school or maybe a spouse.  They have been run down and bullied by so many they believe the lies that have been told.  But you need to understand critical people are usually little people, I don’t mean little physically I mean little emotionally, and little spiritually and they are trying to cut you down to their level  because it is a lot easier to bring you down then to pull themselves up. 

And then we grow up and society bombards us with its definition of success and beauty.  And we don’t realize that so much of what society and the media presents is simply an illusion, but when we don’t measure up to their standards we find it hard to love ourselves.  I’m sure most of you have seen this clip that was presented as part of Dove Soap’s campaign about beauty.  (Dove video clip)

And then when we accept God’s grace and begin to follow Jesus the devil starts to whisper in our ear, “You’re no good”  “Remember yesterday”  “You’re not worthy”.  But the word of God tells us that the devil is a liar.

Nobody can steal your self-esteem without your permission. 

And as destructive as it can be to listen to the voices of others there is something even more destructive. 

2) We Listen to Ourselves  We all talk to ourselves.  Not in the crazy, conversational way, well maybe that way as well.  It was Franklin P. Jones  who wrote “One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least somebody's listening.”

You talk to yourself all the time; you just don’t want to admit it.  As you are listening to this message you are talking to yourself.  You are saying “Let’s see if I understand what Denn is saying.” Or you are saying “Is he serious?”  Or “We have company coming at 12, I hope Denn keeps it short.”  We talk to ourselves all the time, about what we see, and what we experience.   Sometimes it is simply reporting the facts but often it is editorial, we are telling ourselves how an experience makes us feel. 

And the words we speak to ourselves have an incredible potential to shape who we are.  There is very little in life that bothers me as much as hearing someone indulge in negative self-talk.  “I am so clumsy”, “ I am so stupid”, “I will never amount to anything.”  And these words become self-fulfilling prophecies.  You literally speak them into fulfilment.  

Denis Waitley, author of Seeds of Greatness wrote  “There is no opinion so vitally important to your well-being as the opinion you have of yourself.”  And too often we are guilty of telling ourselves things that we would never tell someone we love, we criticize and  we speak critical words, we cast blame and don’t accept any excuses.  And like hearing it from others it’s very difficult to rise about those criticisms. 

What is the Solution to Loving Ourselves?

1) We Listen to Others  If you have to listen to someone then listen to your fans.  Listen to those who speak goodness into your life.  And when someone compliments you for something accept it.  Don’t minimize it, don’t negate it.  “Oh really it was nothing” “Yeah but I’m not as good as so and so”  

Listen to the word of God, Psalm 139:17-18 “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” 

It was Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe who said “If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.”  And that was echoed by Minnie Smith  when she said “I am as my creator made me and since He is satisfied, so am I.”

Over and over again Jesus reminded his followers how much he loved them and how much God cared for them and that goes for you as well.  You are God’s greatest creation.  David writes in    Psalm 139:13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.  You are a masterpiece of the almighty God.  You are not an accident, you are not a oops in the grand plan, you are an intentional creation of God.  He made you who you are and he made you what you are.

Think about it you are a walking talking miracle, only God could have made you what you are.  Engineers have never been able to come close to devising a machine equal to God's supreme achievement, you.  Is it any wonder that David wrote in Psalm 139:14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

You are not a mistake, or a goof or an accident, you are a divine creation, spoke into being by the same God who fashioned the great barrier reef who moulded the Rocky Mountains with his hands, scooped out the grand canyon with his fingers and cast the milky way into the night sky.

To question the creator or to belittle his creation is pretty close to blaspheme.  Maybe you are thinking “But preacher I’m not very tall, or very athletic, or very pretty, and I can't play Guitar like Jason or dance like Denn”.  Have you ever watched God doodle in the evening sky with a sunset.  And as you stood there and marvelled at the masters hand in nature, do you ever shout to the heavens.  Hey, you could use a little more purple in the back and the oranges aren't quite as bright as they could be. 

Every one of us is as unique as a sunset, and each one of us is precious to God because of our uniqueness, because he is the one who made us unique.

The second step to learning to love ourselves is to 2) We Listen to Ourselves Let’s go back to Denis Waitley again “Your mental picture of yourself is the key to your healthy development.  You are the writer, director, and star of either an Oscar wining epic or a Grade B movie.  Who you see in your imagination will always rule your world.”

If you make a mistake then tell yourself you will do better next time, when you do something well congratulate yourself on it.  Cast a vision for your future and remind yourself of that vision.   You should be your own greatest fan and you need to tell yourself how much you appreciate you, because if you don’t nobody else will. 

And again I believe this is a choice we make, when you catch yourself being negative stop and turn it around.  And maybe you are thinking, “I don’t think I can do that, I don’t think I can speak positively about myself.”  Well then take it one step at a time and remember what your mother taught you, if you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all.  But please, please, please, don’t minimize the power of self-talk.   It is not touch feely, it’s not psycho- babble, it’s not New Age gobblegook it is a reality.   You will be what you tell yourself you will be.    Nobody else has the right to talk down to you and neither do you.  We try to speak words of encouragement into the lives of those we love, and if we are supposed to love ourselves then we need to let our words demonstrate it.

And finally here is the crux of the message, if we are going to love ourselves then it will start to  happen when we 3) We Forgive Ourselves  Often the reason we don’t love ourselves is because of something in our past.  Something we have done, or think we have done and we need to forgive ourselves.  You cannot continue to define yourself and judge yourself through the lens of yesterday.   I don’t know what it is that makes you think you are a terrible person but if God has forgiven you then you need to forgive you.   And if you haven’t asked God to forgive you yet that is the first step.  We read in Acts 3:19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.   Let’s read that together,  Acts 3:19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.  So what happens when you repent and turn to God?  That’s right your sins will be wiped out.  Listen to what King David wrote in Psalm 103:12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.  If God wipes out our sins, if God removes them as far as the east is the from the west then we have no business dredging them up. 

You can’t change the past and you shouldn’t be defined by your worst moment. 

If you can truly believe today that God, the creator and master of the entire universe is able to love you then please make the effort to love and respect yourself.

Mark 12:29-31 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”   

What Jesus Said about Joy

Does anyone remember Balki’s “Dance of Joy”?  A few people, does anyone remember Balki and his cousin Larry?  The sitcom “Perfect Strangers”?   Does anyone know what I’m talking about?  I feel so old.  And so for all of you who missed this great theatre from yesteryear, here is the dance of Joy in its purest form?

Here we are, week four of our series “What Jesus said About Our Emotions”.  Since the beginning of May we have looked at what Jesus said about Love, Hate and Fear.  This morning I want to look at what Jesus said about being “Happy” about being joyful. 

And I know that sometimes, especially in church we try and separate those things and we say that happiness is tied to our outward circumstances while joy is an inward condition.  Even to the point while I was putting this message together that one commentator I read stated that the root of Happy is “Hap” the same as “happen” which shows that it is a result of what happens in our life. I rolled my eyes, decided that I wouldn’t embarrass him by posting his name and picture.   

But for most of us that’s a really hard distinction.  If we don’t feel happy we find it difficult to say that we are actually experiencing joy at that particular point in our lives.  “I am so miserable, but deep down I am full of joy.”   I have met people through the years so have testified to having the “Joy filled life” but they look like they fell out of the cranky tree and then got beat with a grumpy stick.  They don’t look like happy people and most people wouldn’t say that they were filled with joy either. 

And I know the line; well I’m just not very demonstrative, that’s just the way I am, I’m smiling on the inside.  Perhaps some of you who were brought up in Sunday School are familiar with the song “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands, If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands, If you are happy and you know it and you really want to show it, if you are happy and you know it clap your hands.”  I’m not sure that we need to walk around clapping or doing the Dance of Joy, but on the other hand I don’t think that Christians should go through life in a permanent grump, looking like they’ve been sucking on lemons.  If you are happy at some point it might be a good idea to notify your face.

Jesus told his followers there should be times they “Leap for Joy”, he said they should be “Filled with Joy”, that “Their sadness would be turned to joy”.  He said they would have “Abundant Joy” and that nobody would be able to “Steal their joy”.   And time after time Jesus told those who chose to follow him to be happy. Not just joyful but to be happy.  And he seemed to indicate that it was something that we could control, that it was a choice we could make. 

So what is happy?  It was Abraham Lincoln who said “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

But what does it mean to be happy?  I guess it depends on who you ask.  British Author Joseph Addison said “Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”  Which was repeated by Tom Boddett when he said “They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world. Someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” 

Ingrid Berman said “Happiness is good health and a bad memory.”  Daniel Boone said “All you need for happiness is a good gun, a good horse, and a good wife.”  And Alan Alda said “It isn't necessary to be rich and famous to be happy. It's only necessary to be rich.”  It was William Lyon Phelps who said  “If happiness truly consisted in physical ease and freedom from care, than the happiest individual would not be either man or woman, it would be, I think, an American cow”

But however you define happiness you need to understand that happy is something you can decide to be.  Remember you will either control your emotions or your emotions will control you.  It was Leo Buscaglia  who wrote “Happiness and love are just a choice away.”

So why should we be happy? Well Jesus said in John 15:11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! So I guess the short answer is that it Being Happy is What Jesus Desires for You.  Apparently Jesus wanted his followers to be happy, he said that he taught us what he taught us so that we would be not only be filled with joy but that our joy would overflow and affect other people.  Wow!  Stop and chew on that for a while.  Your joy will overflow, you will not be able to contain your joy, people will think of you as a happy joy filled person.  It’s unfortunate that if you asked people outside the church to describe Christians that joy probably wouldn’t be the first thing that sprung too mind.

Mark Twain once gave a description  of a gentleman he knew.  And it fits t a T some Christians that I've met since I've been in the ministry.  None of them here.  Now if'n you haven't smiled in 30 years and have the disposition of a hound dog nuzzling a porcupine I'm really not talking about you, and if you think this description fits someone you know don't look around because someone might be staring at you!  Twain described the man as “A solemn, unsmiling, sanctimonious old iceberg that looked like he was waiting for a vacancy on the Trinity.”          

Some Christians look like they fell off a church.  You ever see the gargoyles that hang in Churches in Europe? But that isn’t what Jesus wanted for his followers.    

When Jesus was praying in the Garden, just hours before his betrayal, his arrest and his execution this was part of his prayer.   John 17:13 “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy.”  One of the last things on Jesus mind before he would go to the cross was his desire for us to be filled with joy. And that should be reason enough. But in case you need more here are some other reasons why we should be happy.

Being Happy Will Give You a Better Life  Don’t discount this.  Do you believe that opportunities and encouragement come into your life through people?  Andy Andrews writes “People want to be around happy people—not whiners, moaners and groaners.  Happy people get more opportunities because opportunities come from people, and people are attracted by happy people.”

If you are happy, people will like you more and want to be in your company and that will provide you with more opportunities to be successful.  Doubtful?   If you were an employer and had to hire someone and you had two candidates who were equal in every way except one was grumpy and negative and hard to get along with and the other one was happy and positive and easy to get along with, which one would you hire?

If you were a call centre service rep who would you go out of your way to please the customer on the other end of the phone who is being a jerk or the happy positive polite person?  If you want good customer service then be polite and be happy.

And Being Happy Is Good For You.  Honest it is, and if you don't believe me then listen to what Solomon has to say in Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.

This has actually been substantiated through scientific research.   Hey I mean Solomon knew it 3000 years  ago, but we had to prove it before we would believe it was right.  They have proven that laughter changes chemicals in our bodies and releases endorphins promoting a feeling of well-being.  It doesn't even have to be genuine or spontaneous laughter, it can be forced of contrived laughter and it will still work.  We've known the opposite for years, after all what does worry produce?  Anxiety, sleeplessness, and large gaping holes in your stomach

So the question has to be:  What are some of the things that we need to do to become a happy person?
We Become Happy By Being Content.  In every situation that comes your way there will be something to complain about, and whether you do or not will be your choice.  Because complaining is an activity,  just like watching TV is an activity or going for a walk is an activity. 
So you ask yourself, “what am I going to do tonite?”  And you decide that you are going to watch TV, so you settle down in your favourite chair and turn on the TV and decide what you are going to watch.  And in the same way you can say, “What am I going to do?”  And then you decide you are going to complain about things.   Here is the great secret if complaining is an activity than like any other activity it is a choice, a choice you make or don’t make. 
If you want people to enjoy being around you and present you with encouragement and opportunities than here is the secret, you ready, get a pen and write it down because it is important:  Quit your whining.  Francis Jeffrey said  “The tendency to whining and complaining may be taken as the surest sign symptom of little souls and inferior intellects.”
Too many of us echo the words of Joe Walsh in his song “Life’s been good to Me” when he writes.  “I can’t complain, but sometimes I do.” 
You know as well as I do that the more you complain about something the worse it seems to get.  It’s like the tough piece of meat that the more you chew it the bigger it gets until it’s too big to swallow and too big to spit out and you don’t know what to do with it.
If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it.  It is time we all learned the lesson that Paul speaks about in Philippians 4:11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.   And remember: don’t complain that you aren’t getting what you want,  just be thankful you’re not getting what you deserve.

We Become Happy By being Thankful  This is the opposite of the first point.  And like complaining gratefulness is an activity.  It is something you choose to do, you look around you at what you have in your life and you can either choose to be grateful or not to be grateful, it’s as simple as that.  Going back to the words of Paul again the Bible tells us in  Ephesians 5:20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As a matter of fact almost every complaint can be turned into an opportunity to give thanks.  Car won’t start? You should be thankful that you have a car that starts most of the time. Service slow in the restaurant?  How about being thankful that you can afford to go to a restaurant in the first place. 

We live in a blessed country, and the things we complain about the most are some of our greatest blessings, our health care, our roads, our politicians and the taxes we pay.  Benjamin Franklin  “Constant complaint is the poorest sort of pay for all the comforts we enjoy.”  And if you don’t believe me than plan on travelling with me to West Africa next January.

Matthew Henry was a Bible Scholar from the 1700’s who once was accosted by thieves and relieved of his wallet.  This is what he wrote in his diary concerning the entire incident, “Let me be thankful first, because I was never robbed before; second, because, although they took my wallet, they did not take my life; third, because, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because, it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”

And don’t just have a grateful heart, have a grateful mouth as well.  Take time to thank people for the things they do in your life and not just the “big” things.  Don’t forget to thank the person at Tims who pours your coffee, or the person at Sobey’s who bags your groceries.  When was the last time you thanked your garbage man?  Do you realize what a mess we’d live in if it wasn’t for our garbage collection? 
And show your gratitude to your family, your spouse and your kids.  Thank them for what they do.
The last point is by far the simplest to implement and yet I think it’s the one that will benefit us the most, both internally and externally.
We Become Happy By Being Happy

 You understand the power of a smile, right?  A smile actually has the power to make you feel better.  Medical research has shown that smiling causes the brain to release endorphins, which is the chemical in our bodies that gives us a feeling of wellness and fights pain.  As well research tells us that smiling increase your blood flow, reduces your blood pressure and lowers stress.  And it doesn’t even have to be a real smile, you can trick your body simply by smiling. 

You say, “what if I don’t feel like smiling?”  Smile anyway; my philosophy when it comes to smiling is “Fake it til you make it.” If I’m not happy I still try to smile when I’m around people.     And you realize the power of your smile?  Smiles are contagious so when you smile others smile and that release endorphins in them, making them feel better.  You literally have the power to change someone’s day and that may change their life.

That’s part of why I use humour when I preach, I want people to feel better when they leave church than when they arrived and if I can get you to laugh and smile you will. 

I think Jesus smiled a lot, why?  Because people wanted to be around him, because little kids wanted to be around him and I don’t think that would be the case if he had of been a scowler. 

Andy Andrews says “Your smile is your calling card.  It is the most potent weapon you have.  With your smile, you can forge bonds, break ice, and calm storms.  Use your smile constantly.  The power of who you are is revealed when you smile.”

So where are you at today?  Are you ready to choose to be happy?  You say but I don’t feel very joyful.  I believe that joy is a conscience decision.  It is something deliberate that we decide “I will have joy.”  We all know that when we are happy on the inside that it causes us to smile. But social scientists have discovered something really neat, they have discovered that if we smile that it makes us happy on the inside.  Try it, smile, you are feeling better all ready.

I’m not trying to put anyone on a guilt trip about their emotions, I know that we go through seasons in our life where being joyful is very difficult if not impossible.  Jesus wasn’t happy all the time, we are told that there were times that he cried in grief, there were times he was angry, there were times he was frustrated but those can’t be the emotions that control our lives. 

Things may be tough right now but it will pass, honest.  Every night has a dawn, every storm has an end, every mountain has a crest.  King David struggled with depression throughout his life, just read the psalms, but he also had a grip on this joy thing.  Listen to what he wrote in Psalm 30:5 Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.   In the scripture that was read earlier Jesus told his disciples John 16:22 “So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.”  There will be times in your life that won’t be joyful, happy times, and God never intended for you to put on your happy face during those times.  When Lazarus died, Jesus wept.  Solomon wrote in the Ecclesiastes 3:1& 4 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.  . . A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.

Let each one of us learn to laugh, learn to rejoice always and remember when you're laughing to learn to laugh at yourself, because as John Powell "Learn to laugh at yourself and you'll never ceased to be amused." If your joy is based on circumstances this morning then you need to give your life over to the Lord and let Him place His joy within. 

Remember, When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this: When you die, will YOU be happy when everybody else is crying?” 

Here is your promise for today, Romans 4:7-8 “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin.”