The path to Joy!

Word study on “Joy”

I. Dictionary Definition

1. JOY, n.
1. “The passion or emotion [Feeling] excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; that excitement [Enjoyment] of pleasurable [Comfortable] feelings which is caused by success, good fortune,the gratification of desire or some good possessed, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exultation; exhilaration of spirits.”

2. Principle: We can have joy any time we want. All we have to do is abide by the principles and truths in our lives and in the Gospel, and stay worthy, so that we can keep the Holy Spirit with us. If we do that, we can truly experience joy in our everyday lives!

II. Words of the Prophet(s) and Other Wise Men and Women

1. “Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.”               -Joseph Campbell (Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/josephcamp384345.html)

2. Principle: I really liked this quote because it talks about taking responsibility. It says, “Find”, and ‘find’ is an action word. We must be the ones to take action in order to feel the Spirit and especially learn from it. The saying, “Let Him In” is also saying that we must take action. He cannot let himself in, we must take the action of ‘Letting him in’ ourselves.

III. Scripture(s)

1. “And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one;”  (3 Nephi 28:10 Retrieved from http://www.lds.org)

2. Principle: If we do all we can here on earth to get back to Heavenly Father, we will not only have much joy in our lives, but we too, can be one with the Father!

3. “Nevertheless, the people of the church did have great joy because of the conversion of the Lamanites, yea, because of the church of God, which had been established among them. And they did fellowship one with another, and did rejoice one with another, and did have great joy.” (Helaman 6:3 Retrieved from http://www.lds.org)

4. Principle: The people had joy because they had discovered the truth in which they were seeking. And as it says in the definition, it is a pleasurable feeling. The feeling they had was the comfort of the Holy Ghost which was now among them!

IV. Personal Definition

To me, joy results in making a true effort to live the truths and principles of the Gospel and

even the laws of the land. We came to this earth to experience responsibility, trial, success,

love and joy. We did so to learn and grow so that we may one day reach our eternal goal of

becoming like our Father in Heaven! We knew that we would have to find our own joy and that

it would not just come, but that we would have to take action and let the Spirit into our lives so that he can teach us how to have joy! We can learn how to have joy by our own conversion and in feeling the presence of the Holy Ghost. What I think I need to do is pray to have the Spirit in my life more, and to be able to listen and understand where it’s leading me in my life.