Have you heard the saying, “Don’t let anyone steal your joy?” Our joy is precious and must be protected from others stealing it. When people are mean to us or talk bad about us, it hurts our feelings and ruins our day. However, with the right mindset, you’ll be able to brush them off and keep your joy. Your happiness and joy depend on you, and no one else’s words matter. It’s their problem, not yours. You can still enjoy your day and choose joy over everything else no matter what. As hard as it can seem sometimes, your emotions are in your control.

How Can Someone Steal Your Joy

There are a lot of different ways someone can steal your joy. Some of them may seem obvious, some less so. Still, even the obvious ones can be less obvious when it’s someone you’re used to in your life. Someone you’re now less discerning with or more comfortable being around. There may be some critical people in your life where nothing you do is good enough, and they poke holes in everything you do, even the tiny things. You may also know some show boaters who always think they could have done something better or would have done it another way, or flaunt their successes over yours.

Uncompromising people refuse to see your point of view or back down from a disagreement. Finally, the overly negative people never see the silver lining and seem to go out of their way to bring up the negatives. It’s not that these people are evil or you need to demonize them. These joy stealers are probably not doing so intentionally. However, that doesn’t mean you have to suffer the distress they put you through. They deserve happiness, but so do you.

5 Ways to Keep Your Joy

Joy isn’t just a happy feeling based on our circumstances or things. It’s unshakeable stability in our inner spirit that can range from a calm delight to extreme hilarity, and it’s the joy of the Lord that is our strength. Here are five ways to keep your joy.

Be led by the Spirit.

One of the most dynamic ways to keep our joy is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in the way we should go. Proverbs 16:9 says a man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure. One of the hardest things in the world for people is to walk away from something they’ve done for a long time. If we do the same thing the same way too long, it becomes old and stale, and it means nothing. However, the Holy Spirit will lead us to change something on purpose to make us pay attention to Him. Don’t keep doing things the same way if you’re no longer joyful when you do them. You will lose your joy if you’re not willing to get out of the boat.

Simplify your life.

Don’t try to do too much. Satan works hard to complicate your life so he can steal your joy. If you want to live a less complicated life, you may have to simplify it by not doing so much. If you’re too busy, take an hour or so to write down everything you’re doing or what you want to do. Then, look at which events are not bearing any fruit and mark them off your list. Learning to simplify your life is one of the most important principles to understand because Satan wants to steal your time. He steals your joy by making you too busy to enjoy all God has given you. Take time to laugh and enjoy your life.

Pray with boldness.

In John 16:24, Jesus tells us to ask, and we shall receive, and our joy will be complete. Some people aren’t receiving from God what He wants them to have because they won’t ask boldly of Him. Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come boldly before God’s throne that we might receive grace and help in our time of need. Many Christians feel like they need to clean themselves up before coming to God in prayer. However, our righteousness is in Christ alone, and no amount of good works will make us right with God. If we are in Christ, God sees us as righteous right now. Be bold and confident in God when you pray. Just ask for what you need, boldly and in faith, without wavering.

Be quick to forgive.

Joy is restored to your life when you learn to forgive and forget, and these two virtues go together. God tells us He forgives our sins, puts them as far as the east is from the west, and remembers them no more. Frequently, we try to forgive people, but forgiveness can’t do its redemptive work because we want to remember what they did to us. Why do we need to forgive people? Because our faith won’t work if we don’t. A lack of forgiveness blocks our fellowship with God, and that prevents our spiritual growth. Holding grudges is like taking poison and hoping your enemy will die. Have you lost your joy because of a lack of forgiveness? If so, you should start forgiving people right away.

Obey God.

Walking in obedience with God is one of the best ways to have a joyful, blessed life. Every day we need to submit our will and our plans to God. We need to learn to wait on Him, listen to what He’s telling us to do and then obey Him. God knows what’s best for our lives, and He will lead us into His perfect plan if we permit Him to do so. As our love grows, we will want to do what God wants us to do, and our obedience will give us great joy.

Keeping your joy in a world filled with negativity can be challenging. However, we must remember that our joy is the most precious asset we have, so we must cling to it with all our might. The worst thing we can do is put our joy in the hands of someone other than God. No matter the circumstances, don’t let anyone control your emotions in your daily life. The best way to keep our joy despite the circumstances is to keep our eyes fixed on God. He’s the ultimate source of our joy, and He will keep us on the right path.