Rejoice!

I was helped recently to look at a scripture in a different light. It really touched my heart, and I was moved to share. The scripture is in Philippians 4:4,5 and many times we just read one or the other of these verses, but when reading them together you can really see and make the connection.

There is a direct connection between our rejoicing and our being reasonable. That has to do with our expectation a lot of times…what we expect from ourselves and others. Circumstances change and they effect what we are able to do, but by showing reasonableness and humility we can be gracious with ourselves and still maintain our joy in service. And we can’t expect more than that from others either… our spouse, our family members, those in our congregation, our friends. By being kind, reasonable and forgiving we can help them to find true joy also.

I need to work on this a lot. Many times I expect perfection from myself, and get so down on myself when I don’t meet that impossible standard. So instead I should look at what I can do, what I have accomplished and let that fill me with joy. I should be reasonable, and then be able to fully rejoice! And joy lets us really celebrate the everyday, and then every day lets us celebrate joy.

How would you interpret this scripture?
Do you find you need to be more reasonable with your expectations too?
What are some ways that you can rejoice?
Please share your thoughts in the comments below.