“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)
All right. Time for everyone to be brutally honest.
Raise your hand if you have had a bad day in the past week or so.
Have you been called “grumpy-pants” at any point in your life?
At any moment since you became a licensed driver, have you had a not-so-nice conversation with your windshield about another driver?
Okay. Whew. Glad it’s not just me.
For people who know me—my story is all about joy. It’s in my tagline. On my logo. On my stickers and bookplates, bookmarks and business cards, and of course, all over my website.
More joy?
Yet, I’ve had several moments in my life when one of my children asked me, “Mommy, do you need more joy?”
Ouch. They’ve heard me talk about it all their lives. Can’t get better accountability partners than your kiddos, huh? They witness pretty much everything. And they notice when you’re not walking your talk.
Years ago, I wrote down this verse in Proverbs and stuck it on my bathroom mirror. Then I wrote it down again and taped it over my kitchen sink so I’d see it when I was washing the dishes. Then I did a word study on cheerful. (To save time, I won’t geek out in Greek, I promise.)
But Merriam-Webster gives us a taste:
Full of good spirits, merry. Ungrudging. Likely to dispel gloom or worry.
As a believer—one who is set apart—shouldn’t I (we) be conveying the Hope with a cheerful heart that this lost and dying world so desperately needs? Shouldn’t I be worshiping Him with my whole heart in everything that I do?
Challenge your heart
Our lives here are like a vapor. Here for a moment and then gone. I’m challenged to live mine with a cheerful heart.
I now have the verse written in many different places. The reminder is a cherished one. God created us to worship Him. We shouldn’t be walking around like a bunch of Eyeores. We have the best news that could ever be shared with another human being—that of a relationship with our Lord and Savior.
A cheerful heart means finding joy in the tiniest of things as much as the huge things. It means being on multiple deadlines—when I want to pull my hair out—and taking the time to laugh with my grandson. It means gratefulness instead of complaining, praise instead of criticism, love instead of hate.
It means grabbing onto His joy and not letting go.
It’s been twenty-plus years since my son asked me if I needed more joy. Prayerfully, he won’t need to ask me again.
Until next time,
Kimberley
Kimberley Woodhouse is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than twenty-five books. A lover of history, she often gets sucked into the past and then her husband has to lure her out with chocolate and golf. Passionate about in-depth Bible study, she has been a Precept Leader for many years. Married to the love of her life for three decades, she lives and writes in the Poconos where she wears the hat of the “coolest grandma.”
To find out more about Kim’s books, follow her on social media, and sign up for her newsletter/blog, visit her website.
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