Cheerfulness Without Levity, August 26

The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22.HP 245.1

The cheerfulness of the Christian is created by the consideration of the great blessings we enjoy because we are children of God.... The cheerful enlightenment of the mind and the soul temple by the assurance that we have reconciliation with God, the hope we have of everlasting life through Christ, and the pleasure of blessing others are joys which bring no sorrow with them.HP 245.2

Those who indulge in chaffing, mirth, levity, and vanity of spirit, which arise from a superficial, cheap experience, have no real, solid foundation for hope and joy in the love of God and belief of the truth. The giddy, the heedless, the gay, the jovial spirit is not the joy which Paul is anxious that Christ's followers shall have. This class spend their time in frivolity and excessive levity. Time is passing, the end is near; yet they have not laid up for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on everlasting life. We need not encourage that mirth which dissipates reflection, leaves no time for consideration, and establishes habits of lightness and cheap talk which grieve the Holy Spirit of God and unfit us for the contemplation of heaven and heavenly things. This is the class that will have cause to mourn and lament because they are not prepared for the elevated joys of heaven. They are banished from the presence of God.^{41Letter 28, 1897.}HP 245.3

It is not what is around us, but what is in us; not what we have, but what we are, that makes us really happy. We want a cheerful fire on the altar of our own hearts; then we shall view everything in a happy, cheerful light. We may have the peace of Christ.... If we will be obedient, trustful in God, as a child in its simplicity trusts its earthly parents, we shall have peace—not the peace that the world gives, but that peace which Jesus gives.... Life, this life, has much brightness in it if we will gather the flowers and let the briers and thistles alone.^{42Letter 27, 1886.}HP 245.4

Bring the joy of heaven into your lives. The light of heaven, reflected in its beauteous charm from those who are preparing for translation, brings joy to the heavenly family.^{43Letter 131, 1904.}HP 245.5