Choosing to smile authentically, and even bringing a smile to someone else's face, can be a truly good thing, when the time and place are right. It's all about seeing a smile as something positive, a way to lift your own spirits and maybe even help someone else along the way.
Of course, too much of anything isn't good. There's a sweet spot between being overly serious and plastering on a fake smile. It's a balance where wisdom and joy, seriousness and a genuine smile can exist together beautifully. Everything has its time and place.
Laughter is an expression of the freedom Christ gave us through his loving sacrifice. And a heartfelt smile can be incredibly healing, especially for a hurting heart. Smiling through pain and rejoicing in your Creator – that’s what God wants for you, always.
I don't know what you're going through right now, but I want to encourage you to dry your tears, lift your head, and smile again. Because in Jesus, you have so much to be joyful about.
In desolation and in famine, you will laugh, and you will not dread the beasts of the earth.
These things I have spoken to you, so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be fulfilled.
They have cast me out, and now they have surrounded me. They have cast their eyes down to the earth.
A rejoicing heart gladdens the face. But by the grief of the soul, the spirit is cast down.
It is in vain that you rise before daylight, that you rise up after you have sat down, you who chew the bread of sorrow. Whereas, to his beloved, he will give sleep.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God.
You will lead me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me. For you are my protector.
And Sarah said: "God has brought laughter to me. Whoever will hear of it will laugh with me."
Rejoice always.Pray without ceasing.Give thanks in everything. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for all of you.
For my life has fallen into sorrow, and my years into sighing. My virtue has been weakened in poverty, and my bones have been disturbed.
To David, when he changed his appearance in the sight of Abimelech, and so he dismissed him, and he went away.
It is better to be corrected by a wise man, than to be deceived by the false praise of the foolish.
May they become like dust before the face of the wind, and let the Angel of the Lord hem them in.
There is no health in my flesh before the face of your wrath. There is no peace for my bones before the face of my sins.
Why are you sad, my soul? And why do you disquiet me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance and my God.
I have become stuck in a deep quagmire, and there is no firm footing. I have arrived at the height of the sea, and a tempest has overwhelmed me.
Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the sinner, and from the hand of the unjust and those who act against the law.
Because he has hoped in me, I will free him. I will protect him because he has known my name.
A Canticle of David himself, when the house was built after the captivity. Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth.Say among the Gentiles: The Lord has reigned. For he has even corrected the whole world, which will not be shaken. He will judge the peoples with fairness.Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth exult; let the sea and all its fullness be moved.The fields and all the things that are in them will be glad. Then all the trees of the forest will rejoicebefore the face of the Lord: for he arrives. For he arrives to judge the earth. He will judge the whole world with fairness and the peoples with his truth.Sing to the Lord and bless his name. Announce his salvation from day to day.
And the honor of the king loves judgment. You have prepared guidance. You have accomplished judgment and justice in Jacob.
And I will have understanding within the immaculate way, when you will draw near to me. I wandered about in the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my house.
Blessed is the man who has filled his desire from these things. He will not be confounded when he speaks to his enemies at the gate.
A Canticle in steps. They have often fought against me from my youth, let Israel now say:they have often fought against me from my youth, yet they could not prevail over me.
It is gladness for the just to do judgment; and it is dread for those who work iniquity.
God has given, to the man who is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and rejoicing. But to the sinner, he has given affliction and needless worrying, so as to add, and to gather, and to deliver, to him who has pleased God. But this, too, is emptiness and a hollow worrying of the mind.
And I realize that there is nothing better than to rejoice, and to do well in this life.For this is a gift from God: when each man eats and drinks, and sees the good results of his labor.
And I have discovered nothing to be better than for a man to rejoice in his work: for this is his portion. And who shall add to him, so that he may know the things that will occur after him?
And then he will not fully remember the days of his life, because God occupies his heart with delights.
Consider the works of God, that no one is able to correct whomever he has despised.
So then, go and eat your bread with rejoicing, and drink your wine with gladness. For your works are pleasing to God.
Behold, God is my savior, I will act faithfully, and I will not be afraid. For the Lord is my strength and my praise, and he has become my salvation."You will draw water with gladness from the fountains of the Savior.
And the redeemed of the Lord will be converted, and they will return to Zion with praising. And everlasting joy will be upon their heads. They will obtain gladness and rejoicing. For pain and sorrow will flee away.
And now, those who have been redeemed by the Lord will return. And they will arrive in Zion, praising. And everlasting rejoicing will be upon their heads. They will take hold of gladness and rejoicing. Anguish and mourning will flee away.
For you will go forth rejoicing, and you will be led forward in peace. The mountains and the hills will sing praise before you, and all the trees of the countryside will clap their hands.
to take up the mourners of Zion and to give them a crown in place of ashes, an oil of joy in place of mourning, a cloak of praise in place of a spirit of grief. And there, they shall be called the strong ones of justice, the planting of the Lord, unto glorification.
But you will be glad and exult, even forever, in these things that I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem as an exultation, and its people as a joy.And I will exult in Jerusalem, and I will rejoice in my people. And neither a voice of weeping, nor a voice of outcry, will be heard in her anymore.
I discovered your words and I consumed them. And your word became to me as the gladness and joy of my heart. For your name has been invoked over me, O Lord, the God of hosts.
Then the virgin will rejoice with singing, the young and the old together, and I will turn their mourning into gladness, and I will console them and gladden them after their sorrow.
The Lord your God is the strength in your midst; he will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. In his love, he will be silent. He will exult over you with praise.
be glad and exult, for your reward in heaven is plentiful. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
And when you fast, do not choose to become gloomy, like the hypocrites. For they alter their faces, so that their fasting may be apparent to men. Amen I say to you, that they have received their reward.But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,so that your fasting will not be apparent to men, but to your Father, who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.
And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, "Be strengthened in faith, son; your sins are forgiven you."
His lord said to him: 'Well done, good and faithful servant. Since you have been faithful over a few things, I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the gladness of your lord.'
And they went out of the tomb quickly, with fear and in great joy, running to announce it to his disciples.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who are weeping now, for you shall laugh.
Yet truly, do not choose to rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
I say to you, that there will be so much more joy in heaven over one sinner repenting, than over the ninety-nine just, who do not need to repent.
So I say to you, there will be joy before the Angels of God over even one sinner who is repentant."
Amen, amen, I say to you, that you shall mourn and weep, but the world will rejoice. And you shall be greatly saddened, yet your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
Therefore, you also, indeed, have sorrow now. But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice. And no one will take away your joy from you.
And now I am coming to you. But I am speaking these things in the world, so that they may have the fullness of my joy within themselves.
You have made known to me the ways of life. You will completely fill me with happiness by your presence.'
For through him we also have access by faith to this grace, in which we stand firm, and to glory, in the hope of the glory of the sons of God.Now the law entered in such a way that offenses would abound. But where offenses were abundant, grace was superabundant.So then, just as sin has reigned unto death, so also may grace reign through justice unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.And not only that, but we also find glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation exercises patience,
For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but rather justice and peace and joy, in the Holy Spirit.
So may the God of hope fill you with every joy and with peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope and in the virtue of the Holy Spirit.
Great is my confidence in you. Great is my glorying over you. I have been filled with consolation. I have a superabundant joy throughout all our tribulation.
But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, forbearance,meekness, faith, modesty, abstinence, chastity. There is no law against such things.
And over this same thing, you also should rejoice and give thanks, together with me.
Concerning other things, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. It is certainly not tiresome for me to write the same things to you, but for you, it is not necessary.
And so shall the peace of God, which exceeds all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
being strengthened in every virtue, in accord with the power of his glory, with all patience and longsuffering, with joy,
Let the word of Christ live in you in abundance, with all wisdom, teaching and correcting one another, with psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing to God with the grace in your hearts.
And so, you became imitators of us and of the Lord, accepting the Word in the midst of great tribulation, but with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
Let us gaze upon Jesus, as the Author and the completion of our faith, who, having joy laid out before him, endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and who now sits at the right hand of the throne of God.
My brothers, when you have fallen into various trials, consider everything a joy,For the anger of man does not accomplish the justice of God.Because of this, having cast away all uncleanness and an abundance of malice, receive with meekness the newly-grafted Word, which is able to save your souls.So be doers of the Word, and not listeners only, deceiving yourselves.For if anyone is a listener of the Word, but not also a doer, he is comparable to a man gazing into a mirror upon the face that he was born with;and after considering himself, he went away and promptly forgot what he had seen.But he who gazes upon the perfect law of liberty, and who remains in it, is not a forgetful hearer, but instead a doer of the work. He shall be blessed in what he does.But if anyone considers himself to be religious, but he does not restrain his tongue, but instead seduces his own heart: such a one's religion is vanity.This is religion, clean and undefiled before God the Father: to visit orphans and widows in their tribulations, and to keep yourself immaculate, apart from this age.knowing that the proving of your faith exercises patience,
For though you have not seen him, you love him. In him also, though you do not see him, you now believe. And in believing, you shall exult with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
But instead, commune in the Passion of Christ, and be glad that, when his glory will be revealed, you too may rejoice with exultation.
Their throat is an open sepulcher. They have acted deceitfully with their tongues. Judge them, O God. Let them fall by their own intentions: according to the multitude of their impiety, expel them. For they have provoked you, O Lord.
But the counsel of the Lord remains for eternity, the thoughts of his heart from generation to generation.
A Psalm of David himself. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has performed wonders. His right hand has accomplished salvation for him, with his holy arm.
A snare will entangle the iniquitous when he sins. And the just shall praise and be glad.
And so, I praised rejoicing, because there was no good for a man under the sun, except to eat and drink, and to be cheerful, and because he may take nothing with him from his labor in the days of his life, which God has given to him under the sun.
You have increased the nation, but you have not increased the rejoicing. They will rejoice before you, like those who rejoice at the harvest, like the victorious exulting after capturing the prey, when they divide the spoils.
Concerning the rest, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is chaste, whatever is just, whatever is holy, whatever is worthy to be loved, whatever is of good repute, if there is any virtue, if there is any praiseworthy discipline: meditate on these.