God loves joy! One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy; God is referred to numerous times as 'pleased' and other synonyms for happy, and we are commanded to be joyful. So why are some Christians such a drag, and how do we avoid falling into that trap?
There are people you need to prepare yourself for because they're such joy-zappers - you know the type! When you greet them you're happy and high on life, when you leave you walk away with not even a smile on your face. Usually the joyless attitude is explained away as "realism" or an "analytical" mindset, but the end result is a joy-zapper (and Christian "realists" should be the happiest people because we know the reality of God's love for us and what that means in our day-to-day lives, right?). I love hanging out with my step-brother because we constantly make each other laugh and are continually lifting each other up; but some Christians I know will just wipe that smile off your face!
One of my favorite characteristics I love about my wife is that she makes me laugh; I mean we have so much fun together! It could be a mundane task like doing the dishes, but we make it fun! We've both experienced the joy-zappers, and we're not about to fall into that mindset - our marriage would be a drag on our lives if we did.
Lastly, God invented pleasure. Everything that gives us happiness and a smile on our face was put here by God for our enjoyment: food, sex, love, nature, go on down the list and God put it here for US! We screw up by taking these pleasures and experiencing them at the wrong time or in the wrong degree (gluttony). God wants us to be HAPPY, that's one of the most freeing and satisfying truths in the Bible! Live life, and smile!
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