The world is filled with joy-stealers. If you gave them a $100 bill, they’d be disappointed that it wasn’t five twenties instead and tell you how much more the dollar was worth when they were kids.
They criticize, complain, and find the fault in anything. The Bible says that we should “rejoice with those who rejoice” and “weep with those who weep,” but they get it backwards. If you’re sorrowful, they’re lecturing you on why you should have a better outlook. If you’re celebrating, they’ll rain on your parade. They don’t empathize; they condescend.
These Grinches often hide behind masks of piety or religion, but their actions don’t reflect any biblical definition of Christianity.
True religion certainly has somber times of reflection on weighty matters, but don’t let the joy stealers neglect the myriad celebrations of scripture. When you read the book of Leviticus, you’ll encounter feast day after feast day celebrating what God has done and is going to do. The Holy Spirit produces joy in his hosts, and Paul commanded a fighting church to knock it off and rejoice—more than once.
Isn’t it interesting that false teachers in scripture are not chastised for celebrating too much, but rather as “grumblers” and “malcontents” in Jude 1:16?
Some churches act like joy is a vice. I wonder if the water in their baptisteries was replaced with lemon juice? Maybe that would explain the sour expressions. If you blindfolded a person and dropped them in a room, they might have trouble distinguishing between some funeral home and some worship assemblies. Isn’t that tragic?
People who are in Jesus have been rescued from disaster and given new life—abundant life! “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). If you’re happy and you know it, then your face should surely show it. Don’t rob your family and your church of the gift of joy.