Joy

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” John 15:11

Most people have heard about the “Seven Deadly Sins” even if they can’t name the ones listed. This noteworthy list began among the Christian monastic movement in the Egyptian desert during the fourth century. Two centuries later, Pope Gregory the Great created the classical formulation which stands to this day. These cardinal sins are pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust.

Surprisingly, the original list, which was created by Evagrius in the fourth century included an eighth sin: sadness. The Pope omitted sadness from his final list - yet it once stood among monks as a chief sin. God’s Word clearly commands us to rejoice, and Jesus said He came to make our joy complete.

Christians would be well-served by the acknowledgment that inappropriate sadness is a grace indictment against the Lord’s sacrifice to offer abundant life.