Joy

“So it is with all secondary sources of happiness. Things such as art, music, literature, sports, careers, and hobbies generate no light on their own. The light they bring comes from ‘the Father of lights’ (James 1:17).” - Randy Alcorn

“…spiritual warfare rages over who appears to make people most satisfied: God or Satan. Thus, sounds of human gladness in God taunt Satan’s ears. Saints have understood their joy as a polemic: ‘You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound’ (Psalm 4:7).” - Desiring God

“The custom of praying to thank God for each meal is a wonderful one. But why should we restrict this custom to meals? Why not thank God throughout the day for a hundred other things?” - Randy Alcorn

“In a culture of death, nothing can satisfy us. The things of our world have become exclusively means… of our self-directed projects of building and securing worth, goodness, and meaning—and thus are no longer meaningful, good, worthy ends in themselves.” - Desiring God

“simultaneously, we are told to ‘rejoice with trembling’ (Psalm 2:11), and to ‘serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing’ (Psalm 100:2). We are to ‘come before His presence with thanksgiving;… [and] shout joyfully to Him with psalms.’ (Psalm 95:2)” - Churches Without Chests

“I believe that humor is a gift given to man by God as an expression of our Maker’s innate creativity. Jokes are what we create when we play with words and ideas until they make us laugh and fill our hearts with the medicine of joy (Prov. 17:22).” - 9 Marks

“How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2, CSB) - Randy Alcorn

“I’ve seen it a lot — church members who get angry at someone and then stay that way. I’ve seen people refuse to talk to each other at church, as if their silence is a godly adult reaction to disagreement. My heart breaks when I see such reactions because I’ve seen bitterness consume people for years.” - Chuck Lawless

“Play has helped me not to be defined by my difficulty or my desert. It’s helped me to see life as more than something that is challenging. It’s helped me see that my joy is not dependent on my health and my play is not dependent on whether life is good.” - Common Good