Today’s Scripture: Proverbs 15:13a
A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance….
Holiday Inn, when looking for 500 people to fill positions for a new facility, interviewed 5,000 candidates. The hotel managers interviewing these people excluded all candidates who smiled fewer than four times during the interview. This applied to people competing for jobs in all categories.
There is something about a joyful countenance that attracts. Some people radiate joy. They brighten up the room when they step in. They are a delight in the workplace; putting a smile on the faces of customers, and colleagues, and are a delight to friends and family. We love a joyful countenance, and love to be around it, because attitudes of joy and sorrow can be infectious. We would rather be infected with joy than with sorrow. Oliver Wendell Holmes once quipped, “I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers.”
The truth is, we can make our lives incredibly interesting by bringing joy to the table every time: at home, work and everywhere else. A joyful disposition is vital to dealing with people. People generally find it easier to collaborate with cheerful people. In this critical regard, we have the joy advantage because we have joy as a fruit of the Spirit. So, let us keep an attitude of joy everywhere we go. Its aura is a tool for attracting people to us and ministering the gospel to them. The joy of Jerusalem, the Bible records, was heard from afar (Nehemiah 12:43). Also, we can build better relationships with our spouses and children by exuding joy and preserving an ambience for easy and sincere communication.
The Lord gave the Israelites great joy, and the Bible records that their wives and children rejoiced with them (Nehemiah 12:43). Joy will not only enable us build better relationships, it will attract the favour of men. So, let the radiance of your joy illuminate your environment at all times, in Jesus’ name.
Memorize & Meditate:
“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance.” Proverbs 15:13a
Prayer/Confession:
Thank you, Father, because by Your grace I have and spread the fragrance of joy. My relationships will be better because of God’s joy finding expression through me.
