541: Rejoice always | Philippians 4:4

Let's live our lives with gratitude! In every situation, find something you can rejoice in. At the end of the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul tells us to "rejoice always," but what does that really mean? Do we still praise God during the messy times of life? Isn't this command a little cruel and uncompassionate? Today, we are surrounded with ads and marketing. TV, internet, social media. It's everywhere. And that's a problem. Marketing has one fundamental message: Get you to be discontent with your life. Yes, you have a car that works fine, but how much better would your life be if you had OUR car! Yes, you have dinner planned out for tonight and it is within your budget, but what if you didn't have to work so hard and just ordered our delicious pizza, instead. On Instagram, we get paid recommendations from celebrities. We live in a world where we are surrounded by these types of messages. It can have a serious impact. It's easy to get to a place where we are never content with what we have. We lose our gratitude and in turn lose our rejoicing. Well, you have a LOT to rejoice in today. No matter what situation or life phase you find yourself in, there is something you can rejoice in. I challenge you to find something (or a lot of things) to rejoice in today.