True consolation is glorious; it is both the beginning and the promise of future glory. Counterfeit joy is base and fleeting. True comfort is holy—it promotes holiness and a willingness to obey God. It energizes and motivates believers in their pursuit of holiness. The joy of the hypocrite is not holy. It leaves the heart just as worldly and the life just as unholy as before—sometimes even strengthening selfish desires and encouraging laziness or secret wrongdoing. True comfort humbles the sincere Christian, bringing them low before God’s holiness and grace, while counterfeit joy only makes the hypocrite proud and self-satisfied. Real consolation is always accompanied by a reverent fear of displeasing God; fake joy only fears God’s punishment, not His displeasure. Spiritual comfort cannot be maintained without a sensitive conscience and a continual struggle against sin, but hypocritical joy needs neither. True comfort makes every sin more hateful, while false joy allows the hypocrite to continue loving sin, especially their favorite hidden sins.

~ John Colquhoun

The Chestnut Mare