The cheerful heart has a continual feast.
—Proverbs 15:15
I confess that I have a negative attitude toward Christians with a negative attitude.
To be sure, there’s a bunch of rotten stuff going on in our world. But the Christian has reason to replace a frown with a smile.
I’m not proposing that we start binge-watching mindless sitcoms. But I am suggesting the development of a positive outlook that comes from confidence in the sovereign Lord.
In the insightful words of the late Elton Trueblood: “The Christian is joyful, not because he is blind to injustice and suffering, but because he is convinced that those, in the light of the divine sovereignty, are never ultimate.”
Yes, there are some things that are tragic—one of which is a joyless Christian.
Negate the negative. Promote the positive.
A joyless Christian is an oxymoron.