Last week at the home group meeting we discussed joy. Surprisingly, we had a difficult time defining joy and differentiating it from peace. Here are some thoughts triggered by our discussion.
Joy is a reaction to grace. It is a "He likes me, He really really likes me!" kind of moment. Joy is maintained and enhanced with each new realization of grace and each new attentive act of God towards the person. Not to sound intolerant and arrogant, but it seems to me that Christianity is the only religion with a very well developed doctrine (and practice) of joy. Can someone correct me?
To differentiate peace and joy, perhaps, I can define each in this way. Peace is what happens when you realize that Jesus' acceptance and presence are enough. Joy is what happens when you realize that Jesus' acceptance and presence are too much.
These are pretty raw and need more conversation and thinking. Please, comment!
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2 comments:
Brilliant. Inspired.
I am thinking on these things.
God used you today in my life.
All's grace,
Ann
Ann,
I am glad to be a conduit of His grace. Thanks for reading.
Sergei
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