From http://www.lds.org

Sister Bingham’s message can help members of your Relief Society or quorum understand how to find joy, despite life’s difficulties, as we come unto Christ. One way to discuss her message might be to draw a path on the board leading to the word joy. Invite several members to write on the path a suggestion from Sister Bingham’s message that leads to true joy. Encourage members to consider ways they can act on Sister Bingham’s counsel. Invite several members to share their thoughts.

President Lorenzo Snow said, “The Lord has not given us the gospel that we may go around mourning all the days of our lives.”

Focus on Jesus Christ

Lasting joy is found in focusing on our Savior, Jesus Christ, and living the gospel as demonstrated and taught by Him. The more we learn about, have faith in, and emulate Jesus Christ, the more we come to understand that He is the source of all healing, peace, and eternal progress. He invites each of us to come unto Him, an invitation that President Henry B. Eyring has characterized as “the most important invitation anyone could accept.”

‘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, which President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, 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.’ (President Russell M Nelson, General Conference, October 2016)

‘The Messiah extends His arm of mercy to us, always eager to receive us—if we choose to come to Him. When we do come to the Savior with “full purpose of heart,” ^{3 Nephi 10:6} we will feel His loving touch in the most personal ways.’ (Anne C Pingree, General Conference, October 2006)

Hebrews 12: 1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

How can we better focus on Jesus Christ? (Suggestions might include – prayer, scripture study, service, repentance, trust in his promises, bear testimony of him)

Learn of Jesus Christ

As I have studied the life and teachings of Jesus Christ with more focus and committed “The Living Christ” to memory, my gratitude and love for our Savior have increased. Each sentence of that inspired document contains a sermon and has enhanced my understanding of His divine roles and earthly mission. What I have learned and felt through this period of study and reflection confirms that Jesus truly “is the light, the life, and the hope of the world.” Ancient scripture and latter-day prophets’ words written or spoken in praise of Him bear witness that “His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.”

‘The more we understand the extraordinary role of Christ in our lives, the more conscious we become of our purpose here in mortality, which is to have joy. That joy, however, does not preclude us from experiencing trials and difficulties, even some so great and complex that they may lead us to think that happiness is not possible in such circumstances.

I know by personal experience that the joy of living in righteousness and abiding in Christ can continue despite the tribulations characteristic of mortality. Ultimately, these tribulations often enrich, refine, and guide us to a deeper understanding of the purpose of our existence here in mortality and of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Indeed, the fulness of joy can only be achieved through Jesus Christ.’ (Jose A Teixeira, General Conference, April 2015)

I Love to Learn of Jesus Christ

1. I love to learn of Jesus Christ.
   I love the gospel story—
   How God sent down His firstborn Son
   To teach us of His glory.
   My parents teach me how to pray
   To Heav’nly Father daily.
   They teach me of Christ’s suffering
   And how He came to save me.
2. My Savior is my constant guide,
   Though I may seem to wander.
   He teaches me to love the truth
   And lifts my eyes beyond here.
   And when I walk down lonely roads,
   He does not leave me friendless.
   He gave His very life for me;
   His love for me is endless.
3. When Jesus rises o’er the hills
   His many thousands bringing,
   I, too, would join the angel throng
   And lift my voice in singing.
   So when I leave this life behind,
   I will not, will not sorrow,
   For I shall meet at Jesus’ knee
   With loved ones on the morrow.

Text:  Carol Lynn Pearson

How has learning about Jesus Christ brought more joy into your life?

Have faith in Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is also the source of peace. He invites us to “lean on [His] ample arm” and promises the “peace … which passeth all understanding,” a feeling that comes when His Spirit “speak[s] peace to our souls” no matter what challenges surround us. Whether they are personal struggles, family troubles, or community crises, peace will come as we trust that God’s Only Begotten Son has power to soothe our aching souls.

The Lord promised his disciples ‘peace’ but we know that they went on to experience great trials and tribulations and to suffer martyrdom. In fact, in John chapter 16 the Saviour said to his apostles, ‘In the world you shall have tribulation.’ (John 16:33) This seems to be a very strange kind of peace.

Note,  however, that the Lord speaks about ‘my peace’ – emphasising that his peace is different to the peace that the world offers (and then takes away). In fact Paul tells us in Philipians that God’s peace is so different to the world’s peace that it ‘passeth all understanding’. (Phil 4:7)

So what is this peace that the Lord offers us? Dennis E. Simmons wrote in the May 1997 Ensign:

‘.. even if all the world is crumbling around us, the promised Comforter will provide His peace as a result of true discipleship. Ultimate total peace will come, of course, because He overcame the world. But we can have His peace with us irrespective of the troubles of the world. His peace is that peace, that serenity, that comfort spoken to our hearts and minds by the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, as we strive to follow Him and keep His commandments.’

Modern day revelation helps us to understand how we obtain the Lord’s peace:

‘But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and  eternal life in the world to come.’ (D&C 59:23)

‘Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me’ (D&C 19:23).

Emulate Jesus Christ

Why is trying to do as He did so powerful? Because when we put our faith into action, the Holy Ghost bears witness of eternal truth. Jesus instructs His disciples to keep His commandments because He knows that as we follow His example, we will begin to experience joy, and as we continue on His path, we will come to a fulness of joy. He explained, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” 

President Spencer W. Kimball said: “ ‘What is the price of happiness?’ One might be surprised at the simplicity of the answer. The treasure house of happiness is unlocked to those who live the gospel of Jesus Christ in its purity and simplicity.