Paul instructs us that we should always have Joy in the Lord. He even repeats it again in case we just glossed over it. This is hard to digest. To always be joyful. To know that the Christian life is marked by a life filled with Joy. Similarly gentleness should also be a characteristic that the watching world should see in our lives. I have to admit that I don't feel that Joy is a characteristic that outsiders see in me. I'm not one who really shows Joy externally, like jumping up and down, even my smiles some times are somewhat tight lipped, not that I am not joyful inside. There are also times where I am not very joyful, where I am tired. But Paul expresses that we can be filled with Joy in the Lord always. I know this statement will take time to digest. but I hope that people see in me a joyful person, and I experience daily the Joy that can only come through the Holy Spirit and daily communion with God.