8:00AM: Vanguard Scouting (LDS) Daily Devotions

Wednesday, 07/26: Cheerful

Scripture

Proverbs 15:13 – “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

Thought for the Day

Wise old King Solomon says inner joy literally shows on a person’s face. What we are inside has more lasting impact on our emotional state than do our circumstances. Cheerful people hold up under difficult circumstances better than others because of inner strength. That cheerfulness is the product of a joy inside of us that we have consciously made the decision to grab and hold on to.

It was a cold and rainy night. Your tent leaked and your gear is wet. The weather for today looks bleak and breakfast is limited to cereal with reconstituted powdered milk. Cheerful? Yes! A Scout is cheerful. There is nothing to be done about the events of the previous night and you cannot change the weather. Unless you can personally lay some eggs, cold cereal it is. What you can change, or control is howyou will face these challenges. You have been given the gifts of Scouting, being in the great outdoors at the Summit and a new day in which to enjoy it all. Remembering this should bring joy, and as Scripture tells us, “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face.” When you are cheerful, it gives those around you a lift. People of faith have a mission to others—to add to their cheer. This cannot be done unless we first learn the lesson of cheerfulness ourselves. We cannot teach what we do not know. We cannot give what we do not have. Everyone has an atmosphere, be it cheerful or depressing, and we are responsible for this atmosphere. If you have trained yourself to be unhappy, you can make others about you less happy.

Have you ever wondered why being cheerful is part of the Scout Law? Isn’t being cheerful just part of someone’s nature — or not? How is it like trustworthiness, loyalty, or kindness? Well, for Scouts, cheerfulness is a duty. No day should pass without putting a little cheer into someone’s heart, making their path a little smoother. This is easier if we train ourselves to see the good things, our blessings in life. We need to look at life, not to find misery, but to find cheer. Another secret of cheerfulness is in the way we relate to the people around us. The privilege of helping and being a friend brings cheerfulness, and a Scout with a cheerful spirit is a blessing wherever he or she goes, carrying gladness, lightening the load of others, and making them cheerful. Now let’s get out there and be cheerful!

Questions for Discussion

• Who among my unit or patrol could use the presence of a cheerful spirit today? How can I share mine?
• How am I blessing myself by being cheerful?

Prayer

God of joy and good cheer; help me see the everyday blessings of life and give me the chance to cheerfully share those blessings with others I met today. Let my cheerful heart give them a spiritual lift. A Scout is cheerful. Amen.