Praise Is An Overflow of Joy
When my daughter came home and told me she was in the spelling Bee Final at school, you know what I did? I praised her! I said things, like “Wow, that’s awesome. Great job honey, I’m so proud of you!” Or when I found my three year old reading the text on the side of a service van at our home, you know what I did? I praised him! I said, “Gavin, you can read?! That’s so cool, how do you do that?”
When was the last time you praised someone? Why did you think that was the most fitting thing to do? This week we explore the motivation for praise. What we’ll find is that there are two reasons (among others) that we praise someone or something. The first reason we give praise is because we feel it is deserved. We feel that what we are praising is worthy, or deserving of our praise. The second reason we praise is because praise is an expression of our joy. C.S. Lewis was right when he said, “All praise is an overflow of joy.” When someone or something brings you joy, you can’t help but praise them!
As we’re exploring the dynamics of praise – we want to ask the question, “What difference does it make, knowing that praise, being some what spontaneous, could be made a habit?” More pointedly, “Does it make any difference to make worship, weekly worship, a habit in our lives?”
This week’s message attempts to show that it makes all the difference in the world.
Click below to listen in!