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What makes you happy? Time with family and friends? Gifts? Ice Cream? There are a lot of things that can give us some emotional spikes of happiness; but, we don't want to rely on things like ice cream. That can get unhealthy really quickly. There has to be something deeper than just chasing my pleasures. I was looking at some mental health and behavior studies and they were showing research about how happiness is an emotion that needs external triggers. The problem is that it's a fleeting emotion. It doesn't last and it needs more external triggers. The research also showed that joy is something deeper. While the research also called joy an emotion, in the scriptures, we see that it's more than an emotion. In Galatians 5, we see that joy is a fruit of the spirit. When we keep in step with God and walk in His ways, one thing that grows in us is joy. It's not joy based on external triggers, it's based on who God is, what He has done for us, and how He sees us. When that joy grows in us, it's bigger than our circumstances. While life is full of ups and downs, God is unchanging. When our joy is found in Him, nothing can steal our joy. Let's go beyond happiness. Sometimes we even fall into the trap of expecting God to bless us with external triggers to make us happy. God has more for us.

Some people would say to just do whatever makes you happy, but real joy is found in looking beyond ourselves. There's an acronym for JOY. J.O.Y. Jesus. Others. Yourself. When we live with these priorities and find our delight in God first, we find a life full of purpose and meaning that brings joy on a different level. This can seem so counter-cultural from what we see and how most people live. A "me first" life leads to the emptiness of chasing after happiness. Jesus said that whoever loses their life will actually find it. Sharing our joy, looking beyond ourselves, helping others, and serving can fill us with lasting joy.

For more on Joy, check out our series JOY IN THE JOURNEY