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cheerful heart

There’s good days and there’s bad days. Sometimes everything comes up roses, other times life is an onion patch. That’s the way it is for all of us. No one is immune.

Some of us, however, and I don’t count myself among them, seem to be able to navigate the troubles of life with a smile on their face and a constantly cheerful heart. Their positive outlook has an enormous impact on their own wellbeing and flows over into their relationships with others.

Proverbs puts it this way: ‘A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit… All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a constant feast (Prov 15:13,15).

Of course, there are times when we’re overwhelmed with genuine heartache and even anger. But no matter how difficult the circumstances, we need to train our minds so that we do not settle down in our negative emotions. To quote an old song, ‘You’ve got to accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative, Latch on to the affirmative, Don’t mess with Mr In Between’.

Followers of Jesus have good reason to give thanks. We have been given ‘new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ (1 Peter 1:3). Or as Nehemiah said, ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength’ (Neh 8:5).

A cheerful heart has a constant feast. That’s better than being hungry all the time. A happy heart makes a cheerful face, which is far more attractive than a glum scowl. Count your blessings, even today, see what God has done.