I’ll never forget asking Tamara to marry me—the nerves before I popped the question, and how my heart leaped when she said yes. I was overjoyed.

We can all think of moments when joy filled our hearts to overflowing—but they’re just that: moments. For some of us, they’re few and far between.

That causes me to wonder: how can we live with joy all the time? As a believer, I’ve found it’s when our joy is rooted in a who, not a what. And that who is Jesus.

The kind of joy Jesus gives isn’t the kind we’re used to—the kind defined as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune” (Webster’s Dictionary, 1977). It’s the kind only He can give. In John 4, we see how this joy transforms lives through the story of a woman who desperately needed change.

As a Samaritan, most Jews already looked her down on this woman. Add her history of five marriages and current unmarried relationship, and she was essentially an outcast. Because of this shame, she walked to the well during the day’s hottest hours—when no one else would be there.

Except one day, Jesus was there.

He asked her for a drink. Knowing Jews didn’t typically associate with Samaritans, she replied, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (v. 9).

Jesus responded, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (v. 10).

The woman wondered how Jesus could have water without a bucket. But Jesus was referring to a different kind of well: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst…” (v. 13).

Jesus then prophetically described her broken past (v. 16-18). When she recognized Him as a prophet, He revealed His true identity as the Messiah (v. 25-26). The joy this woman experienced that day would never leave her.

This story shows us three ways Jesus’s joy transforms our lives. First, it challenges wrong thinking (v. 7-10). Jesus helped the woman see that His joy was unlike the world’s temporary happiness. This supernatural joy doesn’t depend on changing circumstances—it depends on Jesus’s unchanging nature.

Then, it changes our behavior (v. 16-18). Jesus addressed the woman’s pain points directly, showing His joy leads to genuine transformation. When we trust Him, our circumstances improve as our behavior aligns with His truth.

It also deepens our faith (v. 21-26). When Jesus revealed His identity as the Messiah, the woman received a revelation that changed everything. Her certainty in God grew because she encountered Him personally.

What kind of joy are you choosing? The fleeting happiness the world offers, or the living water only God can give? Like this woman, choose God’s joy—and you’ll find it never runs dry.

Jim Graff is the senior pastor of Faith Family Church in Victoria. Visit myffc.com.