Joy in Jesus

3 John 1: 1-8

For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; which have borne witness of thy charity before the church:

Whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:  Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellow helpers to the truth. 

Every Christian parent knows this: Nothing brings the kind of joy that comes when parents see their children walking faithfully with Christ.

Why does that knowledge bring joy to a parent?

Because it means everything that a parent wants for a child is happening 

progress toward maturity, deep-seated contentment and joy, and a decreasing attachment to the things of this world.

That’s what the apostle John felt when he wrote his third letter to his friend Gaius.

John confessed that nothing brought him greater joy than to hear that the Christians he had influenced were walking in the truth.

John was joyful because he knew that his spiritual charges were joyful in Christ as well.

When a believer is experiencing joy in his life, those who have influenced him are joyful as well. If a spiritual teacher or leader is joyful, it is often because he knows those he has influenced are also joyful. In short, walking with the Lord becomes a great source of joy and maturity in the Church.

The deeper one’s walk with Christ, the deeper the joy. Let joy become the measure of your faithfulness in Christ. When joy ebbs, look for an area of life that is not wholly set apart for Him. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth - That they adhere steadfastly to the truth, and that they live in accordance with it.

This is such language as would be used by an aged apostle when speaking of those who had been converted by his instrumentality, and who looked up to him as a father; and we may, therefore, infer that Gaius had been converted under the ministry of John, and that he was probably a much younger man than he was.

John, the aged apostle, says that he had no higher happiness than to learn, respecting those who regarded him as their spiritual father, that they were steadfast in their adherence to the doctrines of religion. The same thing may be:

 of all the ministers of the gospel, that their highest comfort is found in the fact that those to whom they minister, whether still under their care or removed from them, persevere in a steadfast attachment to the true doctrines of religion, and live accordingly; and, of all Christian parents respecting their own children. the highest joy that a Christian parent can have is to know that his children, whether at home or abroad, adhere to the truths of religion, and live in accordance with the requirements of the gospel of Christ.

If a child wished to confer the highest possible happiness upon his parents when with them, it would be by becoming a decided Christian; if, when abroad, in foreign lands or his own, he wished to convey intelligence to them that would most thrill their hearts with joy, it would be to announce to them that he had given his heart to God.

There is no joy in a family like that when children are converted; there is no news that comes from abroad that diffuses so much happiness through the domestic circle as the intelligence that a child is truly converted to the Savior.

There is nothing that would give more peace to the dying pillow of the Christian parent, than to be able to leave the world with the assurance that his children would always walk in truth.

Whatever is your greatest joy and treasure, that is your god.

Charles H. Spurgeon