Joy Motivates Us to Act

Scripture — Psalm 51:12-13; 2 Corinthians 8:1-2 (NRSV)

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

Devotion

In last Wednesday’s Life for Leaders devotion, we focused on a portion of Psalm 51. In this passage, David asks the Lord, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” In the devotion, I talked about how I can lose this kind of joy by taking my salvation for granted. Thus, along with David, I am energized to pray, “O God, restore to me the joy of your salvation.”

The experience of this kind of joy is a wonderful thing, to be sure. It fills our hearts with deep and pervasive gladness. It animates gratitude and leads to exuberant worship.

But that’s not all. Joy in the Lord can also motivate us to act in ways that serve God and our neighbor. For example, in Psalm 51, David asks the Lord to restore in him the joy of salvation. “Then,” David says, “I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you” (51:13). David’s joy over God’s salvation isn’t only for his personal benefit. It also motivates David to “teach transgressors [God’s] ways” so that “sinners will return to [God].” Salvation-inspired joy, therefore, isn’t only for the benefit of the one who is saved. Rather, it motivates that person to reach out to others, inviting them to experience God’s salvation. Salvation leads to joy, which leads to witness.

Throughout my life, I have seen the movement from salvation to joy to witness acted out in the lives of dozens of people. I think of Larry, who lived downstairs from me in my college dorm. During his sophomore year, Larry became a Christian, indeed, a joyful Christian. Immediately after receiving Christ, he began sharing his newfound faith with others. Even though he knew very little about Christianity, Larry’s joy energized him to share Christ with all sorts of people, including his roommates, who were quite antagonistic to the Christian faith. Yet their negativity didn’t squelch Larry’s joy or his faithful witness. (I know about this because eventually Larry asked me to come and talk with his roommates about why Christianity made sense. Larry had lots of joy; I had lots of reasons in support of the Christian faith. Both were helpful, as it turned out. But Larry’s joy got the ball rolling.)

Joy in response to God’s grace motivates more than witness. We see an example of this in 2 Corinthians 8. There, Paul describes what happened with a bunch of new Christians in the Roman province of Macedonia. Though they were facing “a severe ordeal of affliction” related to their faith, and though they experienced “extreme poverty,” nevertheless, they gave generously in support of Christians in Jerusalem (8:1-2). Why were they so generous, given the difficulties they confronted? Because their experience of God’s grace led to “abundant joy,” joy that overflowed into abundant generosity. These impoverished and embattled new believers gave, not because of some sense of obligation, but because of their divinely-inspired joy.

In the next chapter of 2 Corinthians, Paul uses the example of these Macedonians to encourage the Corinthians – and, by extension, us – to give out of joy. He writes, “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (9:7). Preachers will sometimes tell you that the Greek word translated as “cheerful” is hilaron, related to our word “hilarious.” That’s true, though it’s unlikely Paul was thinking that our giving should be what we would call hilarious. However, it’s clear that our giving, even sacrificial giving, should be motivated by joy.

When we give, we experience the joy of helping others. Scholars have studied the nature and impact of this kind of joy. In several studies, for example, they gave people a certain amount of money. Some were told to spend it on themselves. Others were instructed to give it away to someone in need. Then the researchers measured the emotional responses of people. In general, those who spent the money on themselves experienced initial happiness, but it faded rather quickly. Those who gave their money to others experienced much more lasting happiness, the kind of happiness we might call joy.

Thus, joy can motivate us to act in ways that serve God and others. Out of joy, we might share the good news of Jesus with our friends. Or, out of joy, we might give generously to folks in need. These are just two examples among innumerable options. The more we experience the joy that comes from God’s presence and grace, the more we will be energized to live, speak, and give joyfully.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Restoring the Joy of Your Salvation.