I just read and listened to President Russell M. Nelson's talk Joy and Spiritual Survival, in which he reminded us that "men are, that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25), that the purpose of life is to find joy. I've known this for a long time, but one thing that bugs me about it is the thought that the joy that we're supposed to have will only become available in the next life. For years, I've thought that the purpose of life is to suffer through the afflictions of life long enough to become worth of the joy that God wants to give us . . . eventually.
But that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. God loves us now; He wants us to be happy now. Is that possible? Is it possible to have peace, happiness, and even joy, while we struggle through the afflictions of life?
I believe that we can have joy, even in this life, but it's tricky. It requires faithfulness to Jesus Christ and a commitment to live by His teachings. It requires an eternal perspective, or at least a great deal of patience. It requires that we do good as often as we can and that we repent whenever we fall short. Fortunately, President Nelson said in his talk that whenever we do anything good, including repenting, we can have joy.
Of course, doing good is harder than doing evil or doing nothing, but the rewards are worth it, even if you're only considering the rewards we get after we pass on. When you consider God's offer of peace and joy in this life, then, once again, that reward alone would be worth the effort of earning it. We would all love to have more peace and joy, and we'd love to experience it for eternity, but what's more, if we're righteous (or even just striving to be righteous), we can also experience joy here and now.
1 comment:
Read some of the writinga and talks by President Gordon B Hinckley. He was a real proponent of joy.
We must not confuse joy with easy and pleasant. When our faith is firm and we are focused on the Savior, we can have joy even when/if life is miserable by earthly measure. Look at people living in abject poverty who truly seem joyful. We also see the examples of great and righteous people who nonetheless face physical trials such as illness or loss of loved ones and still feel joy.
I think sometimes we have to not only have faith but must DECIDE to have joy based on that faith and the blessings we have, despite the afflictions we also have.
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