“Joy and Gladness”

Isaiah prophesied of a time when God would “comfort Zion” and “make her wilderness like Eden.” The people who are part of it would experience positive emotions: “Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” Other spiritually-minded people would be attracted to this community and receive the same blessings: “Therefore, the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy and holiness shall be upon their heads; and they shall obtain gladness and joy; sorrow and mourning shall flee away” (2 Nephi 8:3, 11; Isaiah 51:3, 11; see also Isaiah 35:10).

Elder Patrick Kearon taught that the perspective provided by the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring us happiness:

Because of the loving plan of our Heavenly Father for each of His children, and because of the redeeming life and mission of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, we can—and should—be the most joyful people on earth! Even as the storms of life in an often-troubled world pound upon us, we can cultivate a growing and abiding sense of joy and inner peace because of our hope in Christ and our understanding of our own place in the beautiful plan of happiness.

“Welcome to the Church of Joy,” General Conference, October 2024

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf acknowledged that “life is not an endless sequence of emotional highs.” Nevertheless, he said, “I have…experienced for myself the glorious dawn that fills the soul with joy so profound that it can scarcely be kept in” (“A Higher Joy,” General Conference, April 2024).

Near the end of a revelation addressed to Martin Harris, the Lord asks him to consider his emotional state:

Behold, canst thou read this without rejoicing and lifting up thy heart for gladness?

Doctrine and Covenants 19:39

It’s a good question, especially for someone who had just been instructed to preach the gospel “with a sound of rejoicing” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:37). Can you feel it? Do you recognize that you feel it?

We could all benefit from asking ourselves a version of this question. Can you find joy in the gospel? Are you artificially inhibiting that joy? How would your life be different if you allowed yourself to feel all that your Father in Heaven and your Savior want you to feel?

Today, I will allow God’s messages to lift up my heart with gladness. I will find joy in the perspective given by His gospel, and I will strive to share that joy with everyone I meet.