Joy shouldn’t be a secret. It’s just too important.
Joy is what ignites the process of personal and spiritual transformation. If you are trying to grow or change, joy is the key ingredient that makes change last.
With joy, marriages thrive. Couples connect. Family members feel seen and valued.
With joy, students become more focused. Classrooms become a safe haven. Teachers and administrators become more creative.
With joy, church members are glad to be together. Relationships stay bigger than problems. Staff members smile after meetings. People bring their friends. The good news from God spreads.
So what exactly are we talking about when we say “joy?”
Joy is a relational experience that forms the basis for spiritual experience, human bonding, healthy identity growth and good health in general.
It is the feeling that people feel when they “fall in love” with their baby, their first love, a puppy or a face that just lights up to see us. This can be demonstrated by modern brain science, which reveals how our brains light up when we have these relational experiences. Unsurprisingly, this is inline with the teachings of Scripture and those who teach spiritual transformation.
Scripture demonstrates that joy happens when we recognize and experience that God is with us.
The gospels refer to Jesus as “Immanuel” which means “God with us.” In John 16, Jesus describes how his followers will be sorrowful for a little while, but will feel joy when he returns. This experience of “God with us” is fundamental to spiritual transformation principles, such as those taught by modern Christian thinkers like Richard Foster and Dallas Willard and others throughout the centuries.
Human biology is designed for joy.
You have never heard of a person who goes to a therapist for “joy reduction.” No one complains to coworkers about too much joy in their lives. No one worries about loved ones who are just too joyful these days.
On the other hand, people whose lives are full of conflict or fail to thrive in general in part because they do not know how to experience natural, rewarding joy.
Unfortunately, we often form groups that are brought together by a shared fear or problem.
Whether they are families, churches or recovery groups, what if, instead, we formed our groups around joy?
This was the inspiration behind “Neuro Theologian” Dr. Jim Wilder‘s development of the JoyQ, a scientific assessment tool that measures one’s own level of joy. When you complete the JoyQ you’ll have a better understanding of where you need more joy, and what you should do next. Take the first step towards experiencing more joy and sharing it with others by taking the JoyQ today.
Take the JoyQ today and share your results on social media
