There is more joy to be had when our hearts are set on the right things. 

Let me sum up 1 Thessalonians 3 for you. Paul is really missing the brothers at Thessalonica, and he is beginning to worry—knowing the hardships they deal with, his fear is that somehow the tempter has tempted them and is leading them away from the faith that Paul led them to. So he sends Timothy to check on them. Then we are immediately given Timothy’s report upon his return. It is a good report. Their faith is strong, and Paul is overjoyed. 

Sounds pretty normal. To worry about people you care for, to be glad when you hear they are doing well…nothing unusual here. In fact, we might be tempted to read this report too quickly without seeing the challenge it puts before us. The challenge to care for others. To be thinking of others. To be concerned for others. 

It is far too easy to be self-obsessed. We have our own problems, as Paul surely did. We get so locked into our situations and struggles and responsibilities that we can find ourselves not giving much thought to others at all, especially those far away. Out of sight, out of mind…and we live in a world with a lot of mirrors. 

The other challenge we see here is to actually draw joy from the well-being of others. We can too often find ourselves in competition with others. Their well-being can be seen as a threat to ours, as if they might be doing better than us. We don’t always rejoice in the success of others. A heart obsessed with itself cannot. A self-obsessed heart is not on a team, but sees only room for one on the podium. And the success of others is seen as shining a big spotlight on our shortcomings. 

But, as Paul shows here, the faithfulness of others is a joyful thing to the heart devoted most to God. 

Self-centeredness is a joy killer. And it is certainly a tricky joy killer. When we are unhappy we tend to think that is where our attention needs to be—on our own situation. After all, that is where we have diagnosed the problem to be. Something is missing, so we zoom in on ourselves, determined to figure things out. Do a little self-care. I need to work on me, add some more me time. But the hole in our joy only seems to get deeper and wider. 

Losing our lives for Christ really is the way to joy. But this dying to ourselves is not just the willingness to embrace martyrdom. It is embracing the conversation that is not about you. Embracing the success that is not your own. Embracing the spotlight that is being shone elsewhere. It is being a part of the applause directed toward another. 

Think of it like this: We shrink the channels of joy flowing into our own heart when we only allow joy to come to us through our own successes and blessings. But to be truly about God opens up the floodgates of joy to our heart. Wherever God is exalted, wherever his blessings flow, to whomever is walking in obedience and giving praise, anywhere that God is at work and in anyone whom God is working through becomes a source of rejoicing for us. And God is doing a lot! Have you noticed? Or has your rejoicing only been focused on what God is doing in you? 

Don’t let self-centeredness restrict your joy any longer. Rejoice in God at work wherever and through whomever he is working. Die to yourself and make His glory your ambition. There is more joy to be had when you do.