Joy you Want to Share

I’ve been doing a great deal of thinking about what I value in life. What do you value? What do you place as important when it comes to how you spend your time, who spend time with, and how you view yourself? Do you value intelligence, popularity, strength, or appearances? Or do you value God above all? These are the questions I have been asking myself a lot lately—if my life and actions are a reflection of what I believe, then I’m not exactly practicing what I preach when it comes to this blog. In Matthew 6 Jesus tells us not to worry, to not look for other things to give us value because God is there to take care of us. He asks those around him “why do you worry about food” or “why do you worry about clothes.” Why do we worry about those things? I think it all goes back to what we value in our lives. If I value appearances above all things then I will worry about clothes, who I spend my time with, or what I do on weekend nights. But we are missing a huge point—that God values us above all things simply because He made us. Countless times we stress over the little things that we don’t have, and stop focusing on how truly blessed we all really are. God has provided so much for us, why isn’t He good enough? When I was younger all I wanted was to be bigger, faster, stronger, smarter, funnier, popular… Well, here I am a sophomore at Holy Cross, a decent athlete, and (I think) a bit wittier than I was five years ago. Here’s the thing, I still want more. What I have is never enough, instead I need the very best and when I don’t get it I feel cheated. God is all we need, and it is so hard to believe that yet it is true. The things of this world, sure they bring pleasure but they don’t bring joy. Only God’s love can give us joy. Only God’s love can satisfy you to the point where you feel filled up and want to share that joy with others around you. I spent time with a great man the other day; he was so full of God’s love that he walked around greeting perfect strangers just to share the joy he had. I mean these were people he didn’t know, and yet he showed them that they mattered to him. That is what joy looks like; it’s a happiness you want to share with others, not keep to yourself so you can be all puffed up. The rest of this week, and well every day, try to share God’s love with those around you—you may surprise yourself with your own change of heart.