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Sometimes our joy is lost because of where we allow our minds and thoughts to go.
For example, are you harboring any bitterness? Maybe it’s just a wee bit, but there it sits in your mind: that resentment and anger and self-pity that you’ve never really given over to Jesus. You try to erase it from your memory but it just keeps coming back, bringing with it all that hurt from who knows how long ago. And that bitterness starts to eat away at you again.
Maybe you thought you had forgiven them but it just keeps creeping back into your mind. Well, that’s because sometimes you have to forgive the same thing many times. When Peter asked how many times he should forgive, and suggested seven should be very generous, Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22). In other words, just forgive again, but above all else, don’t let that bitter root stay there because it will grow and cause you to be cynical and unloving. It is a major joy-stealer.
And did you realize that envy can steal your joy—the act of comparing yourself to others? When you compare yourself to others and feel envious of who they are or what they have, you are opening your door for Satan to come in and steal your joy—guaranteed. Someone has said that envy makes us root against the well-being of other people, and you can be sure that envy will leave no room for joy in your heart.
So, if bitterness or envy has found a place in your mind, you can do something about that today, this minute. By God’s grace, refuse to let those envious thoughts dwell in your mind—run them out, replace them with good thoughts, and when you get rid of them, joy will return.