What robs you of joy?

What are the things that rob you of joy? Messy relationships, the economy, your job, your health, your situation in life, a broken down car, something that was just in your reach and you just can’t get there?  What is robs you of your joy?

From Paul and so many other Bible and historical characters, we have learned that you can have joy when you experience difficult, painful, life-threatening circumstances.    John MacArthur has said, “One of the surest measures of a Christian’s spiritual maturity is what it takes to robe of his joy!” That’s so true and convicting.

There is only one thing that should rob us of joy:  sin! Sin robs us of our joy as Christians because it corrupts our fellowship with God who is the fountain of our joy.  Too often we allow wrong attitudes like bitterness, doubt, fear, and negativity to rob of us  or our joy.

But anything else other than sin need not rob of us of our joy.   Don’t let health issues, finances, personal relationships rob you of your joy!  Don’t let circumstances cause you  to question God’s love, fairness, justice, and wisdom!

And be ready for the unexpected in your life. When these happen, guard your heart against anger, bitterness, doubt, distrust, and fear. Those will be your immediate reactions.  Be on guard!

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Attitude!

The Apostle Paul demonstrates how important perspective and attitude are in our lives.  I saw this again as I preached from Philippians 1:12-14 this week.  Paul is in prison, his whole life and ministry seemingly put on hold for four years. But he writes with enthusiasm that all the setbacks he had experienced really resulted in the advance of the gospel.

What happens to us isn’t the most important!  How we respond to what happens to us is!   What happens to me doesn’t matter! What happens to the gospel matters!

Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. Chuck Swindoll reminds us so pointedly,

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you. . .we are in charge of our attitudes.

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