CCC 28-1

PASTORAL CARE

Chip Ingram, M.Ed., M.Th. Choosing JOY

w Who is the most joyful person you know? Stop—don’t keep on reading. I want you to think about the most joyful person you know. How do you feel when you’re around them? I light up when I think of the most joyful people I know. They’re fun to be around; the atmosphere changes when they walk into a room. I can feel down and strug

gling, and after 10 minutes with one of them, something shifts inside of me. Their joy is contagious, encouraging. It makes me want to be around them more. However, something has happened in the last several years. The joy quotient for most people, even followers of Jesus, has taken a dive. Without rehashing all the negative long-term outcomes of COVID, let’s be honest, it was like

30 Christian Counseling Connection