Are you beginning to see now how essential joy is?
Because we live in a world at war. Because the enemy is relentless. Because we are “hard pressed on every side” (2 Corinthians 4:8). For these very reasons we need joy. Lots and lots of joy. Bucketfuls. Wagonloads. Joy can counter the effect of all this unrelenting other stuff. Without it we’ll get drained from the battle, sucked dry. We won’t have anything to draw upon. No inner reserves. We’ll waste away. Throw in the towel. Or we’ll fall into an addiction because we are absolutely starved for joy.
— John Eldredge, Walking With God, p. 114