“Oh, to be full of joy.” I don’t think that’s an actual quotable quote, but it should be. If no one else has said, I just did, so that makes it a quote.

This could possible stir up discussion in some circles, but it is still on mind my, and I plan to blog about it. What is joy, anyway? Dictionaries usually define it as have great pleasure or happiness. I see where they’re coming from on that, but I don’t like linking happiness and joy. They are related, but distinct from each other.

Joy, true joy, comes from God alone; anything else is an imitation. You can look at John 15:11 and John 17:13 to see what I mean by that.

Over the years, I’ve noticed happy being substituted for joy, like they are the same thing. That is a common belief, but I disagree. Joy, like love, has been diluted to the point that it is on the tip of the tongue. It is used frequently, because so many people use it instead of happy.

I maintain that you can be sad, yet joyful. And that you can be happy, yet… whatever the opposite of joyful is. Happiness comes and goes, joy in the Lord is everlasting.