SMILING MAKES ME THIN

1 Thessalonians 5:16 AMPC Be happy (in your faith) and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always);

I saw this sign and it made me chuckle “Smiling makes me thin!” I think anyone who has tried to lose weight at any time would wish that statement was true, and there would be a lot of smiling people going around!😊

But we all know smiling helps us physically as well as emotionally, and our verse encourages us today to ‘always be glad hearted’. But how do we do that when things come against us or we’re sad about something?

Being glad hearted or rejoicing doesn’t depend on our outward circumstances being wonderful, but it’s an inner peace and contentment. It’s an inside job of having joy in our spirit despite what’s going on around us.

Every one of us who knows Jesus as Lord has His Spirit on the inside of us and He puts His joy, His peace and love within us when He comes. We can then choose to tap into those things when the pressure is on us to be miserable or depressed. Our verse reminds us to be happy in our faith and that’s because it’s our faith that overcomes the world, and whatever seeks to pull us down. (1 John 5:4). 

If we take our eyes off Jesus and all He has done for us we can find ourselves sliding down a slippery slope of despair but when we remember we are still a deeply loved child of God, forgiven and chosen by Him to be His special treasure, then we will be able to still rejoice and always be glad hearted because those truths have not changed one bit and they will last forever, through every up or down.

So next time something tries to steal our smile, let’s remember to tap into our inner joy and all that God has done for us in Jesus, and even if our circumstances are difficult or they haven’t changed, let’s choose to give Him thanks with a grateful, glad heart for all the blessings we do have.😊 Amen.

Have a blessed weekend, a glad heart, and keep smiling.x😊

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash