Do you know that it's okay to enjoy your life? And not just once in awhile, but every day?
I am a hard worker, have a lot of responsibilities, and my personality is naturally more serious. I remember a time many years ago when I realized that as much as I loved being in ministry and doing what God called me to do, I wasn't really enjoying it. I found myself thinking things like, I'll be glad when the conference is over so I can get home and enjoy Sunday!
This realization helped me to understand that I wasn't enjoying my everyday life. I was looking forward to things like vacations and other plans that I considered more "special" than ordinary, everyday life. But Jesus wants me to live with joy every single day. He gave His life on the cross for me, so I can "have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)" (John 10:10 The Amplified Bible).
It's God's will for me and you to enjoy our life! And I'm not just talking about vacations, holidays, weekends, payday… I'm talking about ordinary, everyday life, because most of life is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… It's doing routine things, like driving to work, cleaning the house, doing laundry, running errands, taking out the trash, and on and on.
As born-again Christians, we are God's representatives in the world, and He wants us to show others what He's like. We are living advertisements of what it means to have a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus. And we are much more effective when we have joy.
What Joy Is and Where It Comes From
The definition of joy has a broad range and includes anything from extreme hilarity to calm delight. So it doesn't mean you're telling jokes all day and laughing all the time. And I'm not talking about entertaining yourself or getting your way all the time. If we have to get our way to be joyful, we're not living with the joy Jesus gives.
In John 17:13, Jesus prayed that His joy would be made full, complete and perfect in us. Again, it's God's will for us to enjoy our lives. But we have to make a decision to learn how to enjoy life - we have to be determined to do it.
You may be thinking,
Joyce, I can't be joyful because I've got problems and life is hard. But the truth is, we don't get joy from situations in our life. Real joy comes from the Lord, and His joy gives us the strength we need to handle our problems. Believers in Jesus Christ have the ability to live with joy in every situation; we just have to receive it from Him.
The Way You Can Choose Joy
One way we do this is through the right attitude and mindset. If we will seek God first, pay attention to Him and not the problems going on around us, we will have joy. The key is doing this every day, not just when we're desperate for help.
A good attitude is also important when it comes to the daily responsibilities that we don't necessarily look forward to with excitement. We need to make a decision to approach those things with the mindset, "This is what I need to do today, so I'm going to enjoy it!" You don't have to waste your time dreading what you're doing or having a negative attitude about it.
It's so important to me to help people enjoy life and understand that this is what God wants for them. Our enemy, the devil, wants to keep us stressed-out, mad, sad, judgmental and critical of others, and steal our joy - the joy that Jesus died to give us. But we don't have to live like that - we have a choice.
Join me in making this declaration: "I'm going to enjoy my everyday life!" Then decide that you will infect others around you with the joy of the Lord. As we make this an important part of our daily lives, we'll experience more of the fullness of joy we can have through our relationship with Jesus.
For more on this topic, order Joyce's four-CD series Enjoying Everyday Life. You can also contact us to receive our free magazine, Enjoying Everyday Life, by calling (800) 727-9673 or visiting www.joycemeyer.org <http://www.joycemeyer.org>.
Joyce Meyer is a New York Times bestselling author and founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries, Inc. She has authored more than 80 books, including Battlefield of the Mind and The Love Revolution (Hachette). She hosts the Enjoying Everyday Life radio and TV programs, which air on hundreds of stations worldwide. For more information, visit www.joycemeyer.org <http://www.joycemeyer.org>. When I was interviewed by Time magazine once, the interviewer asked me, "Does God want people to be rich?"
