How to Spark Joy in Your Community

Learn how to spark joy in your community to share the Christian faith and bring people closer to God.

The central message of the Gospel, or the good news, is that Jesus died for our sins so that we can receive salvation and live eternally with God. 1 Peter 1:8-9 describes how we should carry this good news into our everyday lives: “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Joy–that feeling of spontaneous, in-the-moment happiness–goes hand in hand with ministry. Everything from sharing the Word of God to performing community service helps others see the connection between joy and the Christian faith. Here’s how you can spark joy in your community to bring people closer to God.

Surprise People with Random Acts of Kindness

People often describe joy as the wonder children feel towards things that most adults no longer find exciting. Joy is that feeling of undivided attention towards what brings you happiness. Children constantly encounter something new, whether it’s a type of dog they’ve never seen or eating a dessert for the first time. For this reason, they’re more likely than adults to live in the moment and appreciate what’s right in front of them.

In the Bible, Jesus shared the importance of having a childlike sense of wonder: “And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’” (Matthew 18:2-4).

How can we inspire a childlike sense of wonder in our community? Surprising people with random acts of kindness will spark the same joy children feel when they encounter something new. Random acts of kindness include showing up at work with coffee and baked goods from your friend’s favorite cafe or paying for a stranger’s meal when your family eats out for dinner.

There are also free ways to surprise people. Consider the values of the people you care about and spark joy in ways that are meaningful to them. Does your co-worker appreciate public recognition? Ask your supervisor whether your team can present a certificate that recognizes his or her special contribution to your office. Does your spouse light up with joy when you share kind words? Write a note to your husband or wife in response to a prompt such as “My Favorite Things About You” or “Why I Love You.”

You don’t have to spark joy alone. Consider joining a community effort on World Kindness Day (November 13) or Random Acts of Kindness Day (February 17). The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has ideas for bringing joy to your school, home, or work.

Build a Lifestyle Focused on Joy

Because surprise inspires a childlike sense of wonder, getting stuck in daily routines can make experiencing joy difficult. That’s why the next way to spark joy might seem paradoxical: build a lifestyle focused on joy.

But how can turning joy into a daily routine create surprise and excitement? When we jump from one routine to the next, we go through the motions of getting ready in the morning, working, completing chores, and caring for our children. Going through the motions puts us in the mindset of “I’ll feel better when X is done,” with X including our next meeting at work or making dinner for our family.

For this reason, setting aside time to feel joy every day helps us hit “pause” on our busy lives. Even a ten minute break from our daily routines opens our heart to God, who gives us joy when we listen to Him. A great way to spend this ten minutes is using a Bible journal. Journaling before getting ready in the morning helps reflect on our favorite Bible verses, get rid of negative thoughts, or spend time in silent reflection and prayer for God to reveal His wisdom.

Journaling becomes a community activity when we share God’s wisdom with others. Did you have a “eureka moment” during your daily journaling? Share your revelation during your next Bible study. Is God telling you that you don’t spend enough time with family? Put some of your routines on hold for a family game night. These are ways that building a lifestyle focused on joy can still come with surprises.

Do God’s Work

Joy depends on not only delighting people with surprises but responding to specific needs that we see in our communities. We spark joy when we do God’s work. That is, helping one another as Jesus asks us to in Matthew 25:35-36: “‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’”

Because we’re made in God’s image, Jesus asks that we treat one another with the dignity that we deserve. We do God’s work when we acknowledge this dignity by donating food to a soup kitchen, teaching Sunday school at our church, or getting groceries for sick neighbors and helping with their yard work. Helping others sparks just as much joy in us as it does in the people we help. In fact, research shows that giving or receiving gratitude reduces stress.

It doesn’t always take a lot of time or money to feed the hungry, welcome a stranger, or visit the sick. Doing God’s work is an example of how everyone can engage in ministry and spark joy in their communities. 

When Jesus sacrificed himself for our sins, he gave us permission to feel joy for our coming salvation. Learning how to spark joy in your community brings the good news of God’s love and forgiveness to others.

Our busy lives can make us forget what it’s like to feel a sense of wonder, take a break from our routines, or feel gratitude. Sometimes, it takes the kindness of just one person to remind us.