What is the Greek Word for Joy
Fourth of July | Pursuit of Happiness
The 4th of July, Independence Day, is the day the
founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, agreeing that we are
all given inalienable rights by the Creator to life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness.
As a Christian, I wondered, “What does Jesus teach us about
the pursuit of happiness?”
The Bible doesn’t really use a word that is equal to the way
we typically use the word “happiness” today. Instead, the Bible relies on the Greek word “chara,”
which is usually translated as “joy.” Now
the word “chara” comes from the word “charis,” which is translated as “grace” in
English. This word chara, as it is used
in the New Testament, is not a feeling we can create within ourselves. I believe that chara may be best explained as
a state of “soul-satisfaction” that is given to us by and through God’s
grace.
This word chara is used many times in
the New Testament, but for the sake of time, I want to focus in on John 15,
because here, Jesus teaches us how to gain chara, how to gain this joy. In this chapter, Jesus encourages us to “abide”
in him – which means to be with him throughout
life. Jesus said that he will abide with us; and we are encouraged to abide
with him. Jesus knew that he was physically going away soon at the time that he
explained this to his disciples. There is no doubt that Jesus was speaking, not
of a physical, tangible way of being together. He was speaking of a spiritual
way of being together.
Why did Jesus encourage his followers to abide in him? He gives the answer in John 15:11. Jesus basically says, I am encouraging you to abide in me so that “my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” Let’s look at that again, remembering that the word chara is the word that underlies the word joy; and chara is a sense of a deep, soul-satisfaction that is profoundly deep and transformative. Let’s look at it again, Jesus encouraged us to abide in Him, to spend plenty of time with Him. Why did he encourage this? Because when we spend ample time with Jesus, that is how we receive His chara in us, and how our chara becomes complete.
Over 10 years ago, I challenged myself to take on
a new endeavor. I decided I wanted to o attempt to spend as much time with
Jesus as I could, while also still having to manage all the things we all have
to do – working full time, running errands, doing chores, parenting, paying
bills, and more. I learned that we can do all those everyday things and still
keep our minds on Jesus. I share my story and the strategies that I implemented
to be able to do this in my short book titled Closer to God: Simple Methods,Starting Today. You can find the book on Amazon, and you can even read it
for free if you are a member of Kindle Unlimited.