Is there another level?

I like to think of myself as a kind and selfless person. Who doesn’t? If I’m honest, however, I realize that many of the kind things I do are driven by a subtler ulterior motive.I buy a small gift for my son or daughter. Could it be pure generosity and kindness? Yes, but many times I’m hoping this gesture will “buy” something for me in return. Sometimes my kindness is a way to buy peace. Sometimes my generosity is to affirm a behavior I want repeated.This concept applies well beyond parenting, too. We’re often kind to someone because we want to be included. We lend a helping hand and then look over our shoulder because we want the pat on our back.Apparently, we aren’t as generous as we like to think. To truly be selfless requires a willingness to die to our own desires. The other day, it occurred to me that wherever I am in the spectrum of selflessness, there’s another level of selflessness that I rarely exercise… and it’s to do with finding joy.As I recently started 1 John in my priority time, I came across a verse that made me consider a whole new level to finding joy as a Christian. Let me explain…Most believers find joy when God answers a prayer in their life or provides in some way. We find joy when we have victory over a sin and we see ourselves taking steps forward in our walk. In the first chapter of 1 John, the author begins by explaining the purpose of his letter and then explains the reason for writing:

And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.(verse 4)

Complete joy sounds like a great thing! … but there was one catch. A little superscript note above the word “our” caught my eye. I intentionally don’t use a Study Bible during my priority time, so there are relatively few notes in my Bible. The footnote at the bottom of the page indicated that some manuscripts actually read:

And we are writing these things so that your joy may be complete.

How crazy that you could have two such different translations! That one word changes everything. Who were they trying to bring joy to? What was creating the joy? I went back to look at the previous verses for context.

[We] proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:2b-3)

That’s when a question hit me: Did they write so other people could experience the joy of Jesus? … or is there a whole other level of love they were experiencing as believers? I believe they were writing so others could experience salvation… but seeing others come to Christ was actually creating full joy within them.At Highpoint, we’ve recently been challenged to help people “get over the wall” in their spiritual journey. I can’t help but think John truly loved the Lord so much that it actually was the ultimate fulfillment for him to see someone experience the love of Christ. The joy of John and his disciples really was being made complete by seeing people come to Christ.In a practical way, it made me realize why many people don’t invite others to church. For most of us, our joy is still about what we can gain for ourselves. If seeing others saved was truly our greatest source of joy, we would be far more intentional to expose people to the love of Christ. What would it look like if our greatest joy really was seeing others experience Jesus?That’s another level… one that we should long to experience.

• What’s one thing you can do today to be more like John and find joy in someone else’s discovery of God’s goodness?
• How can you help someone get over the wall in their spiritual journey?