I wish they weren’t so unpleasant, either, because that’s not the way Christians ought to be! Words like “joy” and “joyful” occur hundreds of times in the Bible, and a grumpy Christian is a contradiction in terms. The Bible says, “Rejoice always” (1 Thessalonians 5:16).

I don’t know why your neighbors are this way; it simply may be part of their personality. But it also may be because they see the sad state the world is in, and they no longer believe it’s going to get better. I understand this; God hasn’t promised that the world will ever be perfect—not until Christ returns and God makes all things new.

But we aren’t called just to complain about what’s happening in the world. Instead, we’re to do all we can to make the world a better place—and over the centuries Christians have done exactly that. God calls us to love others for Christ’s sake—and then to put our love into action. God told those who were prisoners in a foreign land to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it” (Jeremiah 29:7).

How can we be joyful, no matter what’s happening to us, or to the world? The key is to focus on Christ, not on our circumstances. By His death and resurrection Christ overcame sin and death and Satan—and therefore we have hope. The Bible says, “Rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him” (Psalm 64:10).