There's something quietly irresistible about certain people.

You can't always put your finger on it, but when you're around them, you simply feel better, more hopeful, more alive.

That's no accident. God actually designed his people

to be a kind of sweet aroma in the world, drawing others in, not driving them away. But somewhere between

Sunday morning and Monday afternoon, many of us lose that fragrance. Today, on Insight for Living,

Chuck Swindall shows us the path back. To a life

so compelling, it simply demands an explanation. We begin in 1st Thessalonians 5, verse 11. I want you to notice that this list we're looking at kind of evolves out of a statement

that Paul makes in verse 11, encourage one another, build up one another.

I think if I were to paraphrase it, I would say, be contagious with

encouragement. When you get to verse 16 down through 20, you come upon things that are continually

appropriate. See the way it reads, always rejoice. Unceasingly

pray. In everything, give thanks. Stop extinguishing the spirit and stop turning off messages

from God, spoken through the throat of a prophet.

And then there are finally, well, there's one thing that's occasionally uncertain, and so, as we're going to see, we need to examine it carefully.

If it's good, stay with it, if it's bad, get rid of it. We'll look at

that in a minute. Now some things that are continually appropriate. If you want to be contagious,

work on these things. Always rejoice. There is in this a well-developed sense of humor, an optimistic outlook on life,

a focusing on the healing rather than on the difficulty of the problem.

A person who is rejoicing always is one who is light-hearted in spirit, one who on occasion really enjoys a good laugh.

The only way to have a heart that's full of joy is to have a heart that's free of the burdens.

And to have a heart that's free of the burdens means you've got to release them.

And you release the burden.

...