4:15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.\u00a0<\/b> The Holy Bible: English Standard Version<\/i>. (2001). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.<\/p>\n

Have you lost your joy?\u00a0 This is a question that many of us have asked, or wondered, about ourselves or loved ones.\u00a0 What once brought us happiness, can now bring us anger, or dissatisfaction.\u00a0 This change seemed to have taken place in the Gentile community.\u00a0 Paul asks them this familiar question in 4:15.\u00a0 He knew of their loving, giving, and joyful spirit in the past.\u00a0 To the extent that they were willing to even give deeply of themselves for his benefit.\u00a0 But now, because of the influence of Judaizers, and poor theology, the Gentiles have lost their joy.<\/p>\n

It is important to recognize that one’s joy is not necessarily lost due to conflict or crisis.\u00a0 It is more connected to the strength of one’s theology.\u00a0 If in those moments of crisis, one can firmly grasp hold of the Gospel, they are able to maintain peace and joy, even in trial.\u00a0 If our security within the Gospel is not solid, then our joy can be lost.\u00a0 There is a strong connection between the two that must be remembered.<\/p>\n

With that being said, our joy can be restored with a developed understanding of the Gospel, and a strong conviction to hold tightly to it.\u00a0 May God restore joy to those who have lost it by revealing Himself through His Word.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4:15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.\u00a0 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society. Have you lost your joy?\u00a0 This is a question that many of us have asked, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions\/293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rlsmith.me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}