Do More Things That Bring You Joy
A few practical ways to build your own joy.
For some reason, I used to avoid joy.
I felt that choosing to do things that brought me joy was frivolous. Also selfish.
I believed that real value was found in hard work, so there wasn’t really room for play time. I didn’t know how important it was to build joy. How sad!
Find the Lie
I’m going to go ahead and be super honest with you here that I STILL wrestle with this lie from time to time. That joyful things need to be held off until after the hard stuff is done. Like I need to earn joy.
I. KNOW. The one who’s always talking about letting joy loose is on the joy struggle bus sometimes.
It’s almost like something wants to hold me back from living out my purpose…Go figure.
Replace it with Truth
Let me tell you what I tell myself when the struggle rises up:
- Elizabeth, Jesus came so that your joy would be complete (John 15:11).
- Today is a day that God made for you, so go ahead and rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24) because He is your glory and your joy. (1 Thess. 2:20)
- And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope (Rom 15:13).
- Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice. (Phil 4:4)
Why are you so downcast, O my Soul?
Another way to get in the habit of joy-building is to regularly journal your gratitude. Grateful souls tend to be joyful souls. Developing a rhythm of gratitude each morning sets us up to see our moments through the day with a better perspective, in in general to grow in increasing joy.
There is something so uplifting about speaking Scripture over your own downcast soul. Joy is such a good medicine (Proverbs 17:22) The Bible is alive and active and has the power to uplift even the saddest or most weary hearts. And when these words of truth and gratitude breathe joy back into my bones, it frees me up to step more fully into the life-giving things around me that fuel my enjoyment and express my God-wired purpose even more.
Do more things that bring you joy!
Next time you are discouraged, or overwhelmed by the hard, why don’t you give one of those methods a try too? Jesus desires for us to be full of His joy, and to do more things that bring us joy!
Tell me in the comments: What do you to increase your joy??
Elizabeth Joy