If you have hope, this will make you cheerful. Do not give up if trials come; and keep on praying.
Rms.12:12
Saint Paul paints a detailed picture of what Christian life looks like for the Roman church. The church is made up of different people with different gifts but all interconnected with each other. The resulting community is a model of love in action.
Cheerfulness is something that can't be forced. When it is forced it becomes something else, something dead. Saint Paul gives the key to authentic cheerfulness... Hope. Hope overrides the dust of daily battle. It's there in the good times and the bad. It follows, according to Saint Paul, that cheerfulness can also be there for me at all times.
Today I remind myself of where my hope lies, in the resurrected Jesus Christ. Then let cheerfulness spontaneously ignite in me. The world sorely needs a dose of cheer from me today.
Lord Jesus, You are the source of my hope today. I place my trust in You. Let my cheerfulness be an encouragement to those I meet today.
Little Flower, please pray for me.
