What things has Christ spoken that will make “[our] joy full”? Looking back in the same chapter of scripture we receive this insight:

“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”

– John 15:10

At first blush, this statement would seem to indicate that God’s love and its associated joy is conditioned upon our behavior. Dale G. Renlund recently taught a powerful lesson regarding God’s love. In a devotional address at Brigham Young University he used a medical analogy to describe access to God’s love.

“Our physical health depends on hormones and their receptors. Hormones, such as thyroid hormones, insulin, and many others, are substances produced in glands and then transported in the bloodstream to specific cells, and they stimulate those cells by interacting with specific receptors. Illness can occur when either the gland does not produce enough hormone or the receptor is dysfunctional …
There is a type of receptor dysfunction that is eternally consequential: the inability to sense God’s love and feel His Spirit. God’s love is infinite and perfect. There has never been nor will there ever be a deficiency of God’s love …
But what do you do if you do not feel the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ? I know with certainty that the problem is not with Their love. The problem is with your receptors for Their love. If you have dysfunction of your receptors for God’s love, you can lose your way and succumb to dangers such as hopelessness, helplessness, and loneliness.”

Dale G. Renlund – BYU Devotional December 3, 2019

To experience a fullness of joy in this life and in the world to come, we must ensure that our spiritual receptors are functioning properly. As we put our Faith in Jesus Christ into action through obedience to God – most importantly to His commandment to love one another as he has loved us – we are able to feel God’s unconditional love and find lasting joy in our lives.

Our ultimate joy will be found beyond mortality in the world to come, where eternal joy awaits us.  But we err if we only have hope for joy in the afterlife. God’s teachings make it clear that He intends for us to find joy in this life; joy here and now.

“[we] are that [we] might have joy”

– 2 Nephi 2:25

Joy in the present does not imply a life free of challenge, heartache, and tribulation. Life is unavoidably filled with pain and struggle in many forms. When we properly face life’s challenges, we can experience a greater depth of joy.

President Russell M. Nelson taught a great truth regarding finding joy in this life:

“My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.
When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation … and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening – or not happening – in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, ‘Joy to the world, the Lord is come.’ And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!”

Russell M. Nelson – October 2016

This is one of life’s great lessons. Joy does not come form our external conditions, but rather it is found within. To the degree that we invite God into our hearts we will find Joy and Peace during this Christmas Season, throughout the new year, and always.