He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”     Matthew 22:37-40 HCSB

Many of us strive to make ourselves happy. Happiness is a temporary feeling we experience based on our circumstances. We are happy when we pass the test. We are happy when someone thinks of us and maybe buys us something. We are happy when we do the things we love to do, with the people we love to do them with.

Joy is different. Joy is having peace and joy regardless of your circumstances. I’ve had happiness in my life, and I have had joy. I can tell you from personal experience, I prefer joy. Joy is steady, whereas happiness can go up and down like a roller coaster.

So, how do we have joy in our lives? Well, there is a simple recipe for joy, and it can be found in our Scripture passage for today. The Pharisees were trying to trip Jesus up by asking Him which of the Ten Commandments was the most important. In His answer, He basically summed up all of the commandments. And in doing so, gave us the recipe for joy.

We start with a whole lot of Jesus. We are to love Him with all we’ve got, all our heart, soul, and mind. We are to put Him first in all we do. Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”

Secondly, we are to love others as we love ourselves. This means we put Jesus first and others second. Philippians 2:3-4 says we are to do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for their own interests, but also for the interests of others. This is where a good, healthy dose of humility comes in.

And last but not least, consider yourself. If you put Jesus first and others second, this is good, but then we must conduct ourselves in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. We must obey His commands. Jesus summed up the first four commandments when He said to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind. He summed up the last 6 commandments when He told them to love their neighbors as they loved themselves.

When we put Jesus first, we trust Him. We learn to be obedient to Him. We don’t want to disobey Him.

When we put the needs of others above our own, it brings us joy even when our circumstances aren’t all we had hoped they would be.

If you want peace and joy in your life, put in a whole lot of Jesus; this will help you to have a heart full of the Holy Spirit. Throw in a healthy dose of humility, which will help you to love and serve others. Then add some trust and obedience, and when that is all mixed together, you will have a heart full of joy.

Have a great day!