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.
“You will laugh at devastation and starvation, And you will not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
A glad heart makes a face look good, But when the heart is pained, the spirit is broken.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter And our tongue with shouts of joy; Then they said among the nations, “Yahweh has done great things for them.”
The precepts of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Yahweh is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.
For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
For as the crackling sound of thorn bushes under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool; And this too is vanity.
¶Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Wait for God, for I shall still praise Him, For the salvation of His presence.
But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; And let them rejoice with gladness.
¶Let those be joyful and glad in You All who seek You And let them say continually, “Let God be magnified,” Those who love Your salvation.
O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
For You, O Yahweh, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.
Oh come, let us sing for joy to Yahweh, Let us make a loud shout to the rock of our salvation. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who wander in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, They shall never enter into My rest.” Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us make a loud shout to Him with songs of praise.
Light is sown for the righteous And gladness for the upright in heart. Be glad in Yahweh, you righteous ones, And give thanks for the remembrance of His holy name.
¶Make a loud shout to Yahweh, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves with him.
How blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, Who walks in His ways. When you shall eat of the fruit of the labor of your hands, How blessed will you be and how well will it be for you.
How blessed are the people for whom this is so; How blessed are the people for whom God is Yahweh!
The expectation of the righteous is gladness, But the hope of the wicked will perish.
He who considers the word will find good, And how blessed is he who trusts in Yahweh.
For to a man who is good before Him, He has given wisdom and knowledge and gladness, while to the sinner He has given the endeavor of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good before God. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
I know that there is nothing better for them than to be glad and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks and sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God.
I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be glad in his works, for that is his portion. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?
Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to take up his portion and be glad in his labor; this is the gift of God.
In the day when there is good be of good cheer, But in the day when there is evil see— God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not find out anything that will be after him.
Go then, eat your bread in gladness and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.
“Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not dread; For Yah—Yahweh Himself—is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.” Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation.
And the ransomed of Yahweh will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting gladness upon their heads. They will attain delight and gladness, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
So the ransomed of Yahweh will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, And everlasting gladness will be on their heads. They will obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
“For you will go out with gladness And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a headdress instead of ashes, The oil of rejoicing instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of Yahweh, that He may show forth His beautiful glory.
“But be joyful and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for joy. “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be joyful in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the voice of crying.
Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your words became for me joy and gladness in my heart, For I have been called by Your name, O Yahweh God of hosts.
“Then the virgin will be glad in the dance, And the young men and the old, together, For I will turn their mourning into joy And will comfort them and give them gladness for their sorrow.
“Yahweh your God is in your midst, A mighty one who will save. He will be joyful over you with gladness; He will be quiet in His love; He will rejoice over you with joyful singing.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“Now whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
And behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
Blessed are those who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are those who cry now, for you shall laugh.
Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will cry and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.
Therefore you too have sorrow now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.
‘You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’
through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Now the Law came in so that the transgression would increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And not only this, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction brings about perseverance;
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Great is my boldness toward you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I have been filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratefulness in your hearts to God.
You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, laying aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in gentleness receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he looked at himself and has gone away, he immediately forgot what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks himself to be religious while not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance.
Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.
And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
But to the degree you are sharing the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
¶But let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You.
Be glad in Yahweh and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
Praise Yah! Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good; For His lovingkindness endures forever.
By transgression an evil man is ensnared, But the righteous sings with joy and is glad.
So I laud gladness, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will join with him in his labor throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.
You shall multiply the nation, You shall make great their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is dignified, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, consider these things.