It’s very important to have a merry heart, a happy heart.
Proverbs 15:13, 15
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken….All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
Proverbs 17:22
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
Proverbs 18:14
The human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?
Having a merry heart is like a healing medicine. And when you have a merry heart you have a continual feast, you enjoy life all the time. On the other hand, having a sorrowful heart breaks a person’s spirit, and a broken spirit drieth the bones. So it’s important that we push ourselves to have a merry heart, even though it might be challenging at times.
Philippians 4 gives us a great key to having a merry heart.
Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the lord always. Again I will say, “Rejoice.”
We are to rejoice in our Lord Jesus Christ, in all that we have in him. If we are rejoicing in him, we can be rejoicing at all times. Because what we have in him never changes. Even if bad stuff is happening to us, what we have in him never changes.
Romans 12:12 (WT)
Rejoice in the hope. Be patient in affliction. Give persistent attention to prayer.
We are to rejoice in the hope, the glorious future that we have ahead of us after our Lord Jesus Christ returns. Even if our life here on earth gets bad, we still have that glorious future to look forward to, that we can rejoice in at all times.