Bible Text: Matthew 18:3 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3
For many years Mother Teresa gave herself tirelessly to the downcast of Calcutta, working among the poorest of the poor. The recipient of the Nobel Peace Award, this gifted saint helped men and women to live with courage and die with dignity. On one occasion a group of people came to Calcutta to visit, and before they left, they turned to Mother Teresa and one of them said, “Tell us something that will help us to live our lives better.”
She replied, “Smile at each other–it does not matter who it is–and that will help you to grow up in great love for each other.” And then one of them asked her, “Are you married?” And she said, “Yes, and I find it difficult sometimes to smile at Jesus.”
Want to make a difference in your office, your neighborhood, your home? Smile! Try spreading the love of Jesus with a genuine, unaffected smile. So you don’t feel like smiling? There are times when nobody does. Certainly I sometimes don’t, but you can learn to smile. Physicians say that it actually takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown; but more than that, a smile can be a reflection of the joy that is in your heart, which is not dependent on circumstances.
Centuries ago the Apostle Paul wrote, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” (Galatians 5:22-23) and he continued, mentioning a total of nine virtues or qualities of the Spirit-filled life that should be the property of every child of God. A smile is the reflection of joy in your heart, and you can smile at someone–your husband, your teenager, even your boss–when he or she deserves much less than a smile. You can smile at life when it knocks you down and get up in Jesus’ name and then–yes–smile.
Does this mean that you pretend to be something you are not? Not at all! It means that you are fully in control of the circumstances because Christ is fully in control of you and your life. You began the Christian walk having heard the voice of the Master saying, “Follow me!” He never said, “If you happen to like where I am leading you, then you can smile.” Rather, He asked that you trust Him and walk in His footsteps, leaving the circumstances entirely to His direction.
You never smile when you are afraid. You never smile when you have a heart full of doubt. You never smile when you are worried, and it’s tough to smile when you are hurting; but your smile can drive away these dark foes of contentment.
Allow me to open my heart to you for a moment. If you are a Christian, God wants your life to be filled with His presence, and the Bible describes this as the Spirit-filled life. He wants love, joy and peace to fill your life. Life is much too short to live with worry, fear, and turmoil constantly dogging your steps. If you have lost your smile and the joy of your heart, why not stop and say, “God, you must do something for me because I have lost the joy of my salvation,” and you will find that God will touch your heart. Without hypocrisy, you can then smile, look up and trust Him because God still works all things for good to those who love Him and walk in His steps.
Yes, Mother Teresa was right–there are times when it is difficult to smile, but smiling is the reflection of a heart of joy, and it is only this that makes life really worth the bother. Nothing warms the temperature of a relationship like a smile which comes from the heart. Yes, good advice. Learn to smile. It’s medicine for the soul.
Resource reading: Matthew 18:1-9
