On Finding Abiding Joy

Our world offers “passing pleasures” (Hebrews 11:25), but our Lord gives us full and lasting joy (John 15:11). Pleasure is dependent on outward circumstances, but joy is inward and is not disturbed by one’s environment.

Pleasure is always changing, but joy is constant. Worldly delights are often followed by depression. True joy is grounded in Jesus Christ, who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

To keep experiencing pleasure, we must run from one stimulus to another, for it refuses to be permanently grasped. Joy is just the opposite. It is a gift we receive from God.

Pleasure is built on self-seeking, but joy is based on self-sacrifice. The more we pursue self-gratification, the more empty we feel. If a pint of pleasure gives momentary happiness today, a gallon of excitement and thrills is necessary for the same effect tomorrow.

Joy, however, is based on the sacrificial giving of ourselves. As we learn what it means to focus on the needs of others, we find greater fulfillment in God Himself, who meets our every need (Philippians 4:19).

Only when we “seek” the things of Christ can we find abiding joy (Colossians 3:1; cf. Romans 2:6-7).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets