3 Things That Happen When You Celebrate
The early church was an uncommon people living an uncommon life marked by celebration. "They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity - all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved."
Celebrating is how people recite the goodness of God. How are you seeing and saying the goodness of God to the people around you? Seeing and saying God's goodness permeated the lives of the early believers - especially their shared life!
Take a minute and recall a memory where you experienced God's goodness in your life. Then, celebrate it by seeing and saying it. Here are 3 key things that celebrating does:
Stirs up gratitude. When you notice, remember, and reflect on the good of God, gratitude is the natural overflow! And with gratitude often comes great joy. See how your perspective shifts toward curiosity, kindness, and empathy because of gratitude.
Fosters connection. When there's a reason to celebrate, you want to gather people together! Celebration is a communal activity and expression of good! What better way to deepen relationships and foster connection than by celebrating with the people around you?
Creates confident expectation around what God is up to. The more you celebrate by seeing and saying the good of God, the more you start looking for it. God's love is abundant and generous, and he wants all to experience this reality of his! How might your growing confident expectation of what God is up to in and through and around you help others to also confidently expect God's goodness?
In a world marked by anxiety, dread, worry, and fear, how do the people of God show up? By being marked by uncommon celebration because God is always up to something. So, celebrate the good of God daily! As you do, you might be surprised at how much joy you experience and how much joy the people around you experience because of you!