You know them well. They sit in the stands, crowd around the locker rooms after a game, write the articles in the paper, cover the news locally and nationally … Yes, you know them well. I call them the "Joy Killers." They have a mission: to make sure you don't enjoy success. If you win, they will tell you it was by too much. If you have your best night ever, they will tell you someone did it better. If you are breaking every kind of record, they will tell you it was not that big of a deal.

Can't we just be happy for those who do well? My fourth year of coaching was the year of the Joy Killers. I had my best basketball team ever. We finished 24-4 and placed second in a national tournament. But the Joy Killers were present after every victory. People around our program made us feel terrible for winning and how we played the game. I spent months hiding from the Joy Killers because I didn't want them to steal the joy of the great season we were having.

God is Love. God is Hope. God is Peace. And most certainly, God is Joy! He desires for you to have all of these qualities, as well. A life with God brings them, but a life away from Him does not. Think about the joy of Christ and the joy you can have in Him. What clouds it? What can steal it? What kills it? The Joy Killers. Let me list several things that could kill the joy of your walk with Christ. Alcohol, drugs, smoking, pornography, lying, cheating, stealing, attitude and other sins are all Joy Killers that keep us from finding pure joy in Christ. We don't want these Joy Killers to enter our lives, but we allow them in, and they infect our joy and ultimately can kill it.

But there is hope! The Joy Killers in your life as an athlete or Christian can be defeated. How? God's joy! His gives a joy that consequences can't take away, a joy that circumstances can't steal, and a joy that contests can't ruin. You are a decision away from such joy. You can allow the Joy Killers to seek and destroy what you have, but it is a choice. The choice is yours. Choose what the Joy Killers offer, or choose Christ. When you choose Christ, you choose joy!