When is the last time you experienced joy? If it’s been awhile, you’re not alone! More than a quarter of our nation struggles with anxiety or depression, and almost half of the world’s population reports feeling unsatisfied with their life. The good news is, joy is within your reach! In today’s post, I’m sharing five practices to rediscover joy and cultivate a grateful heart, regardless of your circumstances.
When was the last time you rejoiced? It seems that many of us have lost our joy because, like peace, we’ve anchored it in the wrong things. We’ve linked our joy to our kids, careers, circumstances, or current emotional state. True joy is not the absence of sadness, nor is it circumstantial (that’s happiness). Joy is a fruit of the Spirit that is cultivated the more we fix our eyes on Christ. In today’s post, find out how you can cultivate joy and embody contentment regardless of your circumstances.
Today’s post outlines eight spiritual disciplines as described in Richard Foster’s book, The Celebration of Discipline. Each of these practices has been life-changing for me in cultivating the fruit of the Spirit and experiencing Christ’s love, peace, and joy to greater depths. I pray that they will help you in your spiritual walk as you move toward health and wholeness.
We can hope for healing, but we can’t base our happiness on it. We can seek the doctors’ advice, but we can’t put our trust in them. Our hope and trust lies in the Lord alone as we hold tight to His promise to work all things together for good (Romans 8:28).
Why I chose to renew my baptismal vows and what “living out the truth of what I believe” means to me.
