Joy is part of the Christian life. Paul wrote from prison in Rome to the believers in the city of Philippi, “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all” (Phil 2:17, NASB, emphasis added).[1] Here we see the spiritual leader, Paul, sharing his joy with his spiritual children, the believers in Philippi. When I was doing some research on this letter one person said that Philippians is “the most spontaneous and intimate of Paul’s letters.”[2] And we see that here when Paul wants to share his joy with his readers.
Joy is supposed to be shared amongst believers. That’s Paul’s focus in the next verse. “You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me” (Phil 2:18). Here we see the words “rejoice” and “joy” used again. That’s four times in these two short verses. “Joy” and “rejoice” are used sixteen times in just four chapters in Paul’s letter to the believers in Philippi.
In these two verses Paul uses two different words to talk about joy. The first is chairo hich means “be glad, rejoice.” And the other one is synchairo which means “rejoice” as well, but it has a slight change. It has the preposition added to the front of the verb that often translates as “with.” So literally, “rejoice with someone.”
Let’s observe the context in which Paul uses “joy” and “rejoice.” In Philippians 1:18 describes about how Paul was in prison, but he still shared the Gospel, so he rejoiced about that! Paul told the Philippians in 2:28-29 to rejoice when Epaphroditus shows up because Epaphroditus “came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life.”
Paul tells his readers repeatedly to share in the joy that he has. No matter what is going on we can rejoice with God. We should always have something to rejoice about.
If you struggle with joy, here are a few things you can do to be more joyful:
- Write in a journal a list of things you are grateful about in your life.
- Read from the book of Psalms.
- Go outside for a walk in the sunshine.
- Spend time with others and have at least one close friend you talk to each week.
[1] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[2] Kenneth Hanna, From Gospels to Glory (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2015), 276.