Adore - the Teen Girl's Guide to AdventSample

Joy that Lasts

What makes you happy during Christmas? Is it Christmas songs? Food? Giving gifts to your family? Or maybe the festive Hallmark movies? All of these things are super fun! But have you ever noticed that the day after Christmas is kind of depressing? All the festivities fade fast. The tree comes down, the gifts get put away, the Christmas movies won’t be seen again for another year, and they don't even wait until New Year's to turn off the Christmas music on the radio!

Let me tell you a secret: Christians have been given a superpower. It’s called joy. Joy is different than happiness. Happiness is momentary - it doesn’t last very long. Cheesy Christmas movies, cookies, and gifts give us happiness. Soon after Christmas, that happiness goes away. But joy is something that never really goes away, even during tough times. Joy is constant and is so much deeper than happiness. Happiness is circumstantial, joy is present regardless of the situation.

On the night of Jesus’s birth, the shepherds found true joy in the good news that the Messiah had finally come. That joy lasted forever! Luke 2:17 says that the shepherds spread the word about Jesus and the message of the angels. The people who heard it were astonished at the joy of the lowly shepherds. It was so much deeper than happiness. You and I have access to this same joy, all because of Jesus’s birth. It’s the kind of joy that keeps us living in the Christmas spirit all year long, just like the shepherds did!