May the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace as you trust in him.
—Romans 15:13
For centuries art critics have debated whether or not Leonardo DaVinci’s Mona Lisa is smiling. Playwright Sir Noel Coward said, “she looks as if she has been sick, or is about to be.” The painting is valued at more than a billion dollars, which probably makes Leonardo smile—wherever he is.
The word “smile” appears only three times in our English translations of the Bible. But the word “joy,” which produces smiles, turns up 242 times.
The angel told the shepherds that he was bringing “good news of great joy”—the Savior had been born (Lk 2:10–11). And Jude assures us that our Father “is able to keep [us] from falling and to present [us] before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy” (Jude 1:24).
Don’t those words put a grin above your chin?
A smile is a million-dollar-makeover
that doesn’t cost a dime.