Proverbs 15.13
“A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.”
Most of the time you can see how someone feels. People display their mood and emotional state through their demeanor.
Your demeanor is primarily your facial expression, but it also includes your bearing, body language, and disposition. It is your face and body language combined. When you are happy and joyful, you display a cheerful demeanor. And when your soul is burdened under stress, fear, or worry, your face and body reveal it as well.
Watch a TV show sometime with the sound off and watch the demeanor of the actors. You can tell their mood and disposition without hearing actually hearing the dialogue.
When you are happy and excited, whether by circumstances or choice, you display positive energy, which has a positive impact on those around you. In the same way, when you are sad and discouraged, you display negative energy, and this depressed appearance has a negative impact on those around you.
The lesson here is best understood in relation to Proverbs 16.32: “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” In this context, a wise man will rule his spirit to keep it from breaking. If he is experiencing difficult circumstances, he will not let it distract, discourage, or defeat him. As we saw last week, the wise Christian trusts God and is content, no matter the situation.
A glad heart is a choice. Contentment is a choice. Love is a choice. Hope is a choice. Thankfulness is a choice. Attitude is more important than any situation or circumstance. “Ruling your spirit” is simply another way of saying self-discipline. It is how you maintain a glad heart and a cheerful countenance.
And the self-discipline we speak of here is not self-generated. It is the fruit of trusting God and walking with the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5).
What kind of demeanor do you display at work? At home? When people see and experience you, do they see and experience the glad heart of someone joyously thankful for being reconciled to God through Jesus?
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)
