The Bible says the joy of the Lord is our strength. Without joy in our lives, we are weak witnesses for the God we represent.

With everything going on in the world today, it’s little wonder people don’t have a cheerful heart. The news can be depressing. With the earthquakes, economic pressures, drugs, disease and crime, there is not much for which to be cheerful. It seems almost impossible to have the joy of the Lord.

I said almost impossible, but not impossible if we maintain a good attitude with a healthy sense of humor. In Proverbs, Chapter 15, Solomon writes: “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken. All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast. A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken heart dries up the bones.”

I try to maintain a cheerful heart because I fear becoming a bitter, impatient, cranky old man and a critical Christian.

In Charles Swindoll’s daily devotional, “The Finishing Touch,” he mentions the following four abilities that will allow you to have a healthy sense of humor:

• The ability to laugh at our own mistakes.

• The ability to accept justified criticism – and get over it!

• The ability to interject (or at least enjoy) wholesome humor when surrounded by a tense, heated situation.

• The ability to control those statements that would be unfit – even though they may be funny.

I remember hearing that “joy” means putting Jesus first, other people second and yourself last. With that formula it’s impossible not to have a cheerful heart.

If you have any questions or comments, please write to Get High on Life, P.O. Drawer U, Reserve, LA 70084, call (985) 652-8477, or e-mail: hkeller@comcast.net.