The joy of integrity

I hear from so many people, especially working in youth ministry how bad they feel when they react to some situation the wrong way. I tell them all the time life is 20% what happens to you and 80% how you react to it. It's sad but that is mostly true in all facets of life. We don't know what is going to happen today, tomorrow or next week only God knows those answers. So it is up to us to prepare ourselves as beleivers for the things that may occur in our lives each and every step of the way.
Those who I can counsel and sit down with I share things with them that I used to do. I shared with them the ways I have let my temper get the best of me in the past, and then I share with them how much better I feel when I just keep my mouth shut or atleast say the right things. I can tell you that there have been days playing softball with Alexa that she just isn't there, days where there is little or no effort even if it was her idea to play catch she just doesn't seem to be putting forth much effort. I get angry with those situations, and I lose my cool, I don't do anything bad but I let her know that I have lost my cool in some way and that affects her majorly at times. Then, there are days like last Sunday afternoon, she couldn't field a basic ground ball, couldn't make a decent throw to me to save her life and couldn't hit the ball well either. We would do one for a few then realize it wasn't going to be a good day and move on to the other. Instead of losing my cool, we would just walk away from it and find something else to do. Those are those little moments of integrity and right walking that fill you with a good feeling.
You feel the joy of your salvation each time you act or react in a godly fashion. There have been numerous times in my life where I reacted in the correct way and as I looked back on it, my heart was filled with a strange joy. It was the joy from acting out my salvation, and not being fleshly.
Psalm 119:1Blessed are the whose ways are blameless, who walk according to teh law of the Lord.
Salvation brings joy into your life, not a constant happpiness but joy. And joy overcomes all the other emotions when you live out your salvation. Blessed are those who walk blamelessly, who react in a christlike manner and who live according to God's ways. Blessed are we in our hearts and in our souls when we do things God's way, and that blessing is a warmth of joy from the Holy Spirit living inside of us.
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!