Joy! - Week 1
Often, during the Christmas Season, we are surrounded by those we love the most. And there’s something beautiful about that. But. If love is the highest Christian ethic, and loving everyone is the way that CHrist loved, then that’s a good deal more difficult. Jay Kim speaks about two ends of the spectrum of people who are challenging to love: one because it’s easy to forget about them (namely, the global poor and those in need) and the other because we don’t WANT to love them (our enemies).
The belief that a “return to normal” post-COVID will automatically take us to new levels of joy is actually a miscalculation. The reality is, many of us weren’t all that joyful before the pandemic and we won’t be all that joyful just because the pandemic is over. As humans, we all tend to chase “sparks”—momentary pleasures disguised as “joy.” But in the Bible, joy is not a passing feelings, but deep and pervasive sense of God and His goodness. And if joy is God’s basic character, then as those made in the image of God, and especially as followers of Jesus, joy must become our basic character.
