Are you a joy-warrior? Would you like to be? I hope so. That’s who we are called to be here on earth. We are called to love God above all else and others like ourselves. It’s not as easy as it sounds but the benefits are out of this world.

Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Cor.13:11, MSG)

A joy-warrior is someone who’s fighting back with joy, not only his or her own battles but also fighting the battles of his or her friends. Margaret Feinberg in her brand-new book Fight Back With Joy: Celebrate More. Regret Less. Stare Down Your Greatest Fears shares how critically important friends were in her battle against cancer. She writes “Whenever you experience a sense of withness—the awareness that others are alongside you—you can’t help but experience the presence of joy.”

And that is our calling in this life: to love others with God’s love. Most of the time these acts of love are very small and we might even notice them ourselves. But the impact can be tremendous. With the words of Margaret “In the fights of life, people can be conduits of great joy and deep refreshment.”

We are a body of Christ. We are dependent on God but we also need other people. We are called to live in unity and love. It does matter how we treat each other. We can be joy-warriors by helping others, being extravagantly generous by our time and money. It takes a village to fight back with joy. But it can be done. Because God is with us. And his supply of joy is unlimited. Because God is joy. And he loves to pour out not “just” love and grace but also joy.

Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life. (1 Tim.6:17-18, MSG)

God is the ultimate joy giver. And we are all called to share joy with others. God has more joy than we can ever use ourselves. We will never be short-changed. The more joy we pass on, the more joy we have. This is a beautiful mystery of God. But it works. And makes us victorious joy-warriors. Thanks be to God!

 

Gracious God,

Thank you for the gift of joy
and the gift of joy-warriors in our lives.
Enable us to become amazing joy-warriors too.
To bring joy in the midst of sadness and depression
and victoriously fight back with joy.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: Are you a joy-warrior? Do you have joy-warriors in your life?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you receive and pass on as much joy as possible!

Image courtesy of Photobucket, design Mari-Anna Stålnacke. Linking up today with Unite the Bloggersphere and #tellhisstory.