Journeys of a Former Firebrand

A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22, NASB 95)

---

No. I haven’t changed this blog to a health discussion. This is all about how you can have a happy heart and benefit from it the way God wants you to, just like the verse says!

The Brokenness of Sin

It starts with a discussion of what shouldn’t (and ultimately doesn’t) make us happy — sin. Sin is one of those things that promises so much but delivers so little, and what it does deliver is nothing but heartache.

We need go no further than Genesis 3 and The Fall to find that sin leaves everything ruined. Eve took a bite of the forbidden fruit — the object that God said don’t eat. She did so because the serpent said it was okay to disobey God. In fact, he went so far to say it would fully satisfy Eve.

Now imagine that. Satan told Eve that sin would satisfy, and all it brought was death and bitterness. The nature of sin hasn’t changed in thousands of years. Today, it still promises so much but delivers, as this verse states, “a broken spirit” and “dried up bones.”

Sin isn’t worth it. We should grieve over our sin. We must turn and leave it in our wake, far behind us. We must confess and repent of sin. Only when we do this will we find true happiness.

The Healing and Health of the Heart

On the other hand, a happy (joyful) heart brings healing to the body. This is certainly true on a physical level. So many studies on the subject of happiness and health have been done that it seems pointless to even mention that happy people tend to be much healthier than grumpy people. God built our bodies to be happy.

There’s certainly a spiritual concern here as well. If someone isn’t happy, there are normally problems. In many cases, the problem is spiritual. Fear, worry, a lack of self-control, and just simple good (or bad in this case) old-fashioned sin mire many in the mud and muck of depression.

What is the best medicine for these folk?

The verse tells us: “A joyful heart is good medicine.”

Have a happy heart, and you will find that your spirit and body will experience much greater health. While a “broken spirit” brings sickness, the “joyful heart” brings health. This rule for life is one too many ignore and suffer the consequences of a “broken spirit.” Thanking God often, praising Him in good times and bad and simply looking at things from a positive, godly viewpoint will go a long way to providing that happiness we really need.

Reality Check

Now, there may be times when a broken spirit is unavoidable. As we already discussed, we should grieve over sin if we are harboring any. We may grieve the loss of a loved one or feel hurt because we lost our job. Maybe a close friend failed us.

It’s okay to grieve at times. In fact, Solomon went out of his way to say there is a time for everything, even grief and laughter (Ecclesiastes 3). But at the same time, a broken spirit should be the exception, not the rule. If it is the rule, we need to ask why.

The fact is if we follow Christ as Lord and Savior, we have the greatest reason in the world to be happy — we have been forgiven of all our sin. As far as the east is from the west, Christ took care of our sin on the cross, pardoning us and reconciling us to God (2 Corinthians 5:17–19).

There’s no greater basis for happiness than to know our soul is kept by God for all eternity. Nothing existing can touch it. God alone preserves it.

So What?

If you follow Christ, be happy! We have every reason to be if Christ is our Savior. We have no need to worry. We have no need to fret what may come. We have been touched by grace. Our God is in full control, and He will never fail us. In this we can be confident and find happiness.

This doesn’t ensure that we will be perfectly healthy all the time, mind you. Death still holds this world in its icy grip. We will still experience death and sickness because of it. The temporal conditions of sin and death still reign.

However, we have an eternal perspective that should bring us joy when we need it. When Christ comes back, He will set everything right. He will abolish the temporal effects of sin and death and end all sickness. He will rule this world rightly. We will enjoy His presence forever.

If you haven’t put your faith fully in Christ, do so today. It is the only happiness in this life. If you find your happiness in Christ, you will have a “joyful heart” which will work like “a medicine” and heal your soul.