A CHEERFUL HEART
PROVERBS 15:13, 15; 17:22
In the Bible the heart can be the center or focus of passions; the center of the thought processes and even the spring of conscience. Heart, in fact, is associated with what is now meant by the thinking, the will, and the emotions of personal life.
The Book of Proverbs is packed full of wisdom about the heart. There are nearly fifty occurrences of the word "heart" in the Book of Proverbs. I want to call your attention to some of them tonight.
Do you remember the BURMA SHAVE SIGNS that once lined the highways? "Within this veil of toil and sin, Your head grows bald, but not your chin." -Burma Shave. And "Don’t lose your head to gain a minute. You need your head, your brains are in it." -Burma Shave. Like these short pity statements those of Proverbs stick with us. But God’s proverbs reminds us of how God wants us to live. These Proverbs teach us that God has designed us to function better when we are cheerful (CIM). Even our bodily health is effected by our spiritual mood. Voltaire said, "The practice of medicine is amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." Spiritual, emotional, and physical health are related. Let’s look...
1st in Proverbs 15:13 where we learn that joyful hope in the heart puts a smile on the face. "A joyful heart makes a cheerful [good] face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken" (NASB). ["A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken (NIV).]
Inner feelings whether from joy or sadness will come to exterior expression. To be joyful is to be glad, merry or cheerful. Inner joy (s mah) shows on a person’s face. When we’re happy on the inside, our faces can’t help but show it on the outside.
Happiness and depression are issues of the heart. What a person is inwardly has more lasting impact on his emotional state than do his circumstances. Some people hold up under difficult circumstances better than others because of inner strength. Christians though can have inner joy.
Body language communicates without words. The shrug of a shoulder, a raised eyebrow, a false smile, a down-turned mouth, a knowing nod-all of these can speak clearly even when no sound is heard.
Sit on a shopping mall bench and study the faces of those who pass by. Listen to snatches of conversations, and catch the emotions expressed. Soon the evidence of a broken spirit will become obvious in someone by both words and body language. A pretended cheerfulness is difficult to maintain for long.
So we wonder are only a few fortunate people born with a bright outlook on life or is optimism an attitude we can learn? Susan C. Vaughan, author of Half Full, says that seeing life’s potentials and possibilities instead of its pitfalls is the result of a internal process anyone can follow. One of her conclusions is that "there is a powerful link between facial expression and emotions. She believes that people who begin to act happier actually feel happier."
There is merit in thinking and acting positively, but the Bible declares that true spiritual joy begins deep inside us, then spreads to our faces.
How do we develop a merry or joyful heart? We can begin by thanking the Lord for being with us and working for our good in every situation (Romans 8:28). A daily walk with God can produce a merry heart if we focus on His blessings. It’s not a matter of pretending but of practicing an outlook on life that reflects our faith in Christ. "Rejoice in the Lord always," Paul wrote from prison. "Again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4). That kind of optimism begins with a merry heart and spreads to the face.
In turn, a truly cheerful countenance spreads a contagion of hope and joy to others. We don’t know who will cross our paths today or what burdens those persons may carry. Check your mirror. How’s that smile? Hmm ... that’s more like it.
Father, Help me to reflect the deep joy love and peace that comes from You.
Inner grief (heartache; 14:13) depresses a person’s morale (crushes the spirit; 15:4; 17:22; 18:14). The challenges of life can stress us and the demands we face can deplete our energy. Coping with various difficulties can be hard, and following Christ obediently is certainly serious. But there is a place for joy and healthy laughter in our lives. [In fact, we will likely feel better if we learn to laugh more often.
Today we know from various studies, research, and the writings and experiences of people like Norman Cousins that laughter can reduce stress, help ease pain, allow us to better manage anxiety, encourage us toward overcoming depressive feelings, and even aid in stabilizing our mood. There is less absenteeism and more productivity in a work environment where laughter is present. Victor Frankel, who was tortured in a Nazi concentration camp, wrote, "There were moments when laughter saved my life."
Despite the benefits of laughter, it is not a panacea, nor is it always appropriate. But it can be a tool that God has given us for our good. We know that healthy laughter moves us to a lower state of tension.]
[Unhealthy laughter is sinful. It feeds on what is wrong, victimizes another person, perverts what is holy, or distorts what is true. Dr. Kuhn of the University of Louisiana School of Medicine has reported that unhealthy laughter does not take a person to a lower tension level, but actually increases the level of tension.]
Healthy, godly laughter is okay. Christians, however, often need permission or even need to give themselves permission to laugh. Here is a prescription for healthy laughter:
* Attitude: You cannot and should not laugh all the time, but you can be willing to laugh.
*Awareness: know what makes you laugh.
*Discipline: Expose yourself to clean, wholesome opportunities to laugh.
*Exercise: Try to laugh about 30 minutes a day ( about 3% of your conscious day.
We should encourage people to develop an outlook that makes room for laughter in their lives.
We should not laugh at people. We should not laugh at everything. We should not laugh like someone else laughs. However, we can and should laugh. In fact, healthy laughter may improve your disposition, your service, and your witness. It will likely make you more pleasant to others.
[See Arnot, pp 320-324 for additional ideas.]
2nd, Proverbs 14:30 expresses a nearly parallel thought. "A tranquil heart is life to the body, but passion is rottenness to the bones" (NASV). [ "A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones."]
Spiritual, emotional and physical health are related. Fearing the Lord and walking in His peace is healthy or life to the body. But passion or envy rots the bones.
A person’s emotions affect his physical condition, as it is well known today. A heart at peace (or, "a mind of health," meaning, a healthy disposition) helps produce a healthy body. The "sound [or healthy] heart" has the ability to make good decisions in the use of what we have. Those decisions become, then, a source of "life" to our "body" (lit., the "flesh"); they sustain us and keep us content with our lot.
The alternative is to make ourselves bitter, unproductive, even sick with the lust for what we do not have. We are not to indulge in personal extravagance nor are we to be jealous (envious) of those who seem to have money to burn. Envy, an ardent agitating desire to have or achieve what one sees in others, produces adverse effects physically. It is condition so debilitating that it undercuts our stability and mobility like a severe case of osteoporosis ("rottenness of the bones"). Many people are literally sick because they envy what others have. If you want to be withered and wiped out, always want the promotion she got, the raise he got, or the new car they got.
3rd, from Proverbs 12:25 we learn that a good word can put joy in the heart. "Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad" (NASV).
Heaviness in the heart of a man makes it stoop. This is true not only figuratively but literally because we know that many heart problems are directly related to stress. As is well known today in the fields of medicine and psychology, anxiety can weigh a man down (Lit. "causes a man to bow down") or depresses him.
A good word though can "make it glad." The empathetic use of an kind word can give an anxious, depressed person support and can cheer him up (v. 18). Everyone has within him at least one quality to approve. Giving a good word not only brightens the heart of the hearer, but fulfills the role of the speaker. As a result, both hearts are made glad.
4th, Proverbs 15:15 informs us that a cheerful discerning heart result in a continual feast. "All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast" (NASV). ["All the days of the afflicted are evil, But he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast."]
Once again one’s disposition has a considerable effect on one’s outlook. Life to a cheerful heart is as joyful and satisfying as the days of a festival. Our attitude colors our whole personality. We cannot always choose what happens to us, but we can choose our attitude toward each situation.
A helpful way to move toward cheerful heart is to fill our minds with thoughts that are true, pure, and noble (Phil. 4:8). You need to look at your attitudes and then examine what you are allowing to enter your mind. You may need to make some changes concerning what your heart and mind dwell on.
Now there is merit in thinking and acting positively, but the Bible declares that true spiritual joy begins deep inside us, then spreads to our faces. A daily walk with God can produce a merry heart if we focus on His blessings. Gratefulness assures a continual feast of spiritual provision at God’s table. And when we’re happy on the inside our faces can’t help but show it on the outside.
"Rejoice in the Lord always," Paul wrote from prison. "Again I will say, rejoice!" That kind of optimism begins with a merry heart and spreads to the face. If you have the joy of Christ deep in your heart, it will show on your face.
[Your attitude affects your altitude. That is, the attitude of your spirit affects the altitude of your spirit. "I would be happy if" we often say. But the wise person says, "I will be happy now." Happiness is a decision we make daily. Some have a feast every day. And it’s all because of their attitude. [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Vol 2. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006, S. 224]
A 5th proverb that also speaks about the heart is Proverb 15:30. "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones."
Bright eyes, or a cheerful look, indicates the brightness which shines in the eyes when good news comes. Those that spread or share good news put fat on the bones meaning they invigorate the body. A cheerful look can speed up the heartbeat of the person who receive the encouragement. Good news brings renewal or health to the innermost person. What kind of news do you think you are sharing with that look on your face?
The person who anticipates the blessing of God has every reason to be cheerful. Life holds no terrors for him, because he has long ago determined that his course shall be a humble walk with God, wherever He leads. Even death holds no mysteries because he knows his strong refuge is eternal. With a sense of adequacy for life and the assurance of victory in death, the believer can experience cheerfulness, the joy of the Lord. Unfortunately, this is not always exemplified in Christian walk and demeanor, but the understanding of the reasons for a cheerful heart should be carefully taught to those who don’t know about it and should be strongly reiterated to those who know but have chosen to forget. The reason that the demonstration of cheerfulness is so important is that a lot of people need to see real joy and be exposed to the reason for such joy.
A 6th word about a joyful heart is found in Proverbs 17:22. "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones."
The verse plays on the contrast between a "merry ["joyful"] heart" (15:13, 15) and a "broken ["beaten," "shattered"] spirit." One brought health like a good "medicine"; the other dehydrated the very "bones" of the sufferer.
To be joyful of heart is to be ready to reach out to others with a welcome, a word of encouragement, an enthusiasm for the task at hand, and a positive outlook on the future. Such people are as welcome as pain-relieving medicine. It is well-known that our emotions can have a profound effect on our bodies. And the condition of our bodies can affect our emotions.
[Norman Cousins is pioneering a new medical discipline called "pyschoneuro-immunology" while on the staff of the UCLA School of Medicine. The medicinal effects of cheerfulness were explored by Norman Cousins in his famous experiment with comedy films and the therapeutic impact of laughter during his painful recovery from an inflammation of the nervous system. He is sharing his experiences with the neophyte physicians. His personal research anticipated the discovery of endorphins and other hormonal secretions which are the body’s own pain blockers, released by the act of laughter and other expressions of hopeful positive outlook. Paul Harvey stated, "Carefully controlled experiments conducted by Cousins & his associates demonstrate that you - just by controlling your mind set - can alter your temperature, your blood pressure & your blood chemistry in a matter of minutes."
It goes on to say, "There is now evidence that cancer patients - liberated from depression - can actually activate the anti-cancer capability of the immune system. ’The human body,’ contends Cousins, ’is far more robust than people have been led to believe. A strong will to live, along with the other positive emotions - faith, love, purpose, determination, humor - boosts disease-fighting immune cells.’"
Even back in 1997 an article in the Heart Association journal pointed to the negative physical consequences of hopelessness. It essentially said that those who had experienced extreme feelings of despair had a 20-percent greater increase in arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) over a 4 year period. Other studies have also connected hopelessness with heart disease, heart attacks, and death.
The relationship between one’s emotional well-being and physical condition, however, is not a modem discovery. In Proverbs 4:22 we read that God’s words "are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh."
A proper relationship to God and His Word can benefit us spiritually, physically, and emotionally. The central concern of the gospel is to bring us into a right relationship with God through faith in Christ. Its blessed byproduct is an abundant life filled with health-promoting hope-the assurance of total forgiveness of sins and eternal life with Christ.
The opposite of Christian cheerfulness is a crushed spirit which the second half of the verse addresses. This is a dark brooding spirit of pessimism and negativism that refuses to hope, a spirit that is saddened and depressed. It preys on strength and consumes the vigor of the constitution. Without white blood cells which our bone marrow produces, our immune system shuts down. A crushed spirit becomes like a shut-down immune system, our resistance goes down. Our self-esteem withers. We kill instead of give life to situations and those around us. Inner dispositions affect the body in terms of well-being or its opposite.
Medical science support the proverb. If you’re joyful in your heart, then that is good medicine. But if you’re not joyful, if your spirit is broken, then it dries up your bones. You become old & tired, & a person no one wants to be around. Think about it. Who are the people to whom we are attracted? "Gloomy Gus" who walks around with a frown on his face? The person who sees all the bad things in the world, who is thoroughly convinced that everything is falling apart? Is that the kind of person with whom we love to spend our time?
No, not at all! We are attracted to the person who has a smile on his face, & joy in his heart.]
7th, Proverbs 18:14 emphasises the blessing of a lively cheerful spirit even in sickness. "The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?"
The ability to take what life sends and stay on the bright side was a treasured trait. In spite of the enormous pain that life inflicts on a person a right attitude can make all the difference. Only the merry heart or spirit can counteract the hardship (sorrow or sickness) that weigh us down and keep us from the complete emotional and spiritual collapse that "broken spirit" suggests. "Depression" is probably our modern equivalent. It is deadly not only to life but to the enjoyment of life.
If a person is crushed inwardly, if his inner strength is gone, medicine can hardly sustain him. A physically ill person can be borne along by his spirit, but if his spirit is down too, if he is depressed, what or who can lift him out of his illness?
It is easier to prevent a broken spirit than to cure one. Who can lift up ("bear") a broken spirit once it sags to the bottom of hopelessness or inner disaster? How important that we remind ourselves regularly of the resources available in our faith to stoke the fires of joy in hearts that burn low! And how helpful it is to have available in our day both the medical technology and clinical skills to mend the broken spirits! None of these, however, is a substitute for the healing of the soul’s diseases that only the forgiving, sustaining grace of God can perform. [Hubbard, David A. The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol 15: Proverbs. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1989, S. 207.]
IN CONCLUSION
What kind of medicine dispenser are you? Do you provide healing medicine by cheering hearts? Or are you a spirit crusher? Do you let your own concerns consistently be the most important? Or are you willing to put others first? Do you listen to your spouse’s spirit or crush it with criticism and sarcasm? Do you offer a cheerful encouraging word to your child? Do you lead gloomy dinner table talk or bring a cheerful look and good news to the dinner table? As friends, fathers, and husbands, we should encourage others by word and action.
As I was growing up my wise mother would quote Proverbs 17:22, A merry heart does good, like a medicine. Usually she did this when I needed to change my attitude. Would I allow a negative spirit to poison my thinking, or would I embrace an outlook of thankfulness and its resulting joy?
That verse was all she said. No sermon, no lecture, just seven words about the phenomenal value of God produced happiness that springs from deep inside.
My mother believed that if I stopped complaining and began to thanking God for the possibilities at hand, I could have the powerful medicine of a merry heart. I think she was right.
It’s significant that our Savior said on several occasions, "Be of good cheer" (Mt. 9:2,22; 14:27; Acts 23:11). He also said, "These things I have spoken to you that your joy may be full. In full view of life’s many crises, He encourages us with this word of reassurance: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33).
No matter what happens, don’t let it steal your heart from being joyfully centered on Jesus. If you have Jesus in your heart, let it show; notify your face! Remember Philippians 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. In all the storms of life we can hear the voice of Jesus saying to our inner spirit, "Be Cheerful."
I pray you will turn your life over to Jesus & that you will ask the Lord to have His way in your life as you live each day for Him.
