Journal Prompt: Count it All Joy

The phrase from the Bible that comes to my mind the most often is from James 1:2, “count it all joy.”

I think I take it out of context more often than not, since James was writing to persecuted Christians, and my life is pretty easy here in the States. But it reminds me of where my focus is. Where my focus should be.

James says count it all joy, because all these trials we go through are making us more like Christ, and as Christ followers, that should be our goal. But the thing I notice most about this is that James doesn’t say “feel joy.” He says to count it as joy. We can feel upset about something, yet note that we are becoming more like Christ so it is ultimately good. We don’t have to manufacture fake feelings to count it all joy.

Spend 5-10 minutes journaling about what it looks like for you to count it all joy. There are no right answers, as this will look different for everyone.

Next time you are going through something hard, remember, no matter how we are feeling, we can count it as joy.