Joy: Spread Some

Welcome to Day 3 of my Christian Living Series, "Walk the Walk," written from the perspective of a recovering perfectionist.

Today's topic is "joy." A lot has been written by countless others - and even myself - about looking for joy in the journey.  Counting your blessings and being thankful is a key component to being joyful.

But today, I want to look at it differently. What if we spent more of our time being a source of joy to others than being consumed about receiving joy?

I have a friend, Teresa Eaves Gaikema, who calls herself a JOYspreader on her social media. I like that idea very much!

I think it's a biblical concept for two reasons.

First, Paul tells us both in Ephesians and in Thessalonians to edify one another. What does edify mean? According to Webster, one of its meanings is to uplift. Strong's Dictionary defines it as building up. Sounds like spreading joy to me.

And it is so easy to do! Sincerely compliment people. Tell them of the good you see in them. Tell them of the inner qualities you appreciate. "You always are so kind!" "I appreciate your passion, you help me look at things differently!"

And it doesn't hurt to praise outer qualities now and then as well, such as, "I love your outfit," or "Your smile lights up the room."

We're all hungry to hear words of affirmation, and to hear of good things; because on the daily, we are bombarded with negative and words of gloom and doom.

I also think it's biblical to spread joy because of the concept of sowing and reaping. You'd like to have more joy in your life? Then spread some! It will come back to you.

The world is starving for a taste of what God's love looks like in the life of a believer. Go spread it!

I'm participating in Anita Ojeda's #Write28Days challenge. (Go here, if you're interested in joining, too.) 


You're invited to read all my posts in this series. Go to my landing page each day to see the links of each post as they go live.

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I'm sharing this post with the communities at  #TellHisStory