Make or Break

  "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken" (Proverbs 15: 13). Notice what makes the difference between cheer and sorrow. Certainly there are things that contribute to the outlook and disposition in life. But more than the what happens to us or around us is the quality of heart (mind, soul, thinking, attitude) that we have toward such things. As difficult as it is to consider, we can have a merry heart even under trying circumstances that would ordinarily break the spirit and crush us.

  This does not minimize what happens. It maximizes our attitude toward what happens. We cannot always govern what happens. But we do have some control over our attitude about it.

  A Christian can have a cheerful heart even when it seems the devil is winning the battle because he knows his ultimate victory in heaven.