Chip Ingram: Choosing Joy When Life is Hard

Do you ever find yourself dwelling on the negative? Or complaining a little too much? Today’s guest, Chip Ingram, knows exactly what that’s like. In fact, his powerful journey through chronic pain and hardship is what led him to write his book, I Choose Joy: Change Your Perspective, Change Your Life. In our conversation, Chip shared how renewing your mind—a biblical practice that transforms how we think—became his pathway to experiencing joy in the midst of overwhelming circumstances.

Choosing Joy When Life is Hard

Chip’s story starts with something so ordinary—playing basketball. But that game ended with a herniated disc, setting him on a seven-year journey through chronic pain, multiple surgeries, and long, grueling rehab sessions. During those years, Chip was pastoring a large church, managing four services every Sunday, and trying to push through life as if everything was normal.

But life wasn’t normal.

Over time, Chip’s perspective darkened, though he didn’t see it until his wife gently pointed it out by asking, “Do you recognize how negative you’ve become?”

That question stopped him. He didn’t want to admit it, but she was right.

The Turning Point: Renewing His Mind

In what Chip describes as the sovereignty of God, he was invited to speak at the Billy Graham Conference on Philippians 1—Paul’s letter written while chained under house arrest. Paul’s words radiated joy despite his circumstances, and that intrigued Chip. Paul wasn’t pretending life was easy. He was chained, facing possible execution, yet his focus was still on God and others.

Chip realized he needed to retrain his mind, to deliberately change his perspective.

“I basically went into training to renew my mind. I had to retrain my thinking to get perspective, and as I did, it revolutionized my life and my joy—even in the midst of great pain.”

This wasn’t about wishful thinking or ignoring hardship. It was about forming habits that would lead to joy.

The Joy Formula

As the son of a math and science teacher, Chip began to see a pattern in Paul’s letter:

C (Circumstance) + P (Perspective) = E (Experience)

Chip explained that we have very little control over our circumstances. But we have 100% control over our perspective. And our perspective will shape our experience.

He discovered four questions from Philippians 1 that help shift our perspective from victimhood to joy:

Question 1: Where’s your focus?

Chip learned to ask himself: Am I focusing upward (on God and gratitude) and outward (on others)?

“As soon as I focused upward and outward, my perspective changed.”

Question 2: What’s your purpose?

Ask, “How can God use this?” instead of “Why is this happening to me?”

“God’s purpose isn’t to make me happy and pain-free—it’s to fulfill His greater plan.”

Question 3: Where’s your hope?

Chip saw how easy it is to build our hope on “if-then” statements: If I get married, if I succeed, if my health returns…

“But hope grounded in Christ is unshakable—even when circumstances don’t improve.”

Question 4: What are your expectations?

“We often expect life to go well if we’re faithful, but Scripture tells us it’s been granted to us not just to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for His sake.”

Joy is a Spiritual Discipline

Chip emphasized that choosing joy isn’t easy, instant, or natural. It’s a spiritual discipline that takes intentional, repeated effort.

“You can develop a habit of seeing life through a negative lens, but you can also train yourself to choose joy. You have to go into training for the habit of joy.”

And, as C.S. Lewis put it, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.”

Chip also shared that small daily choices matter—like how we start our day. If the first thing we do is open our phones and flood our minds with the world’s noise, negativity will set the tone. But if we start by focusing on God, we can experience a mindset shift.

The Unexpected Fruit

Perhaps the most beautiful part of Chip’s story is what God did through his pain. Out of this difficult season came a ministry that now serves pastors worldwide. What started as an encouraging phone call during rehab turned into an international movement that has trained over 400,000 pastors across continents.

“My circumstance didn’t change, but God’s purposes were fulfilled in ways I never could have imagined.”

You can hear Chip’s full story, the four questions that can change your life, and his practical wisdom in the episode: “Chip Ingram: Choosing Joy When Life is Hard” on the Christian Habits Podcast.

And if you’d like to dig deeper into the daily habits that help you experience joy, you can find his book, I Choose Joy, wherever books are sold.

 Listen to the full episode on the Christian Habits Podcast!

Resources Mentioned on the Podcast

• I Choose Joy: Change Your Perspective, Change Your Life by Chip Ingram
• The Invisible War by Chip Ingram
• Living on the Edge Ministries
• Chip’s resources for Bible Studies and Small Groups: at livingontheedge.org and on the app stores.

How to Listen to the Podcast

• Listen or subscribe on YouTube.
• Listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
• Listen or subscribe on Android.
• Listen or subscribe on Spotify.
• Amazon Alexa: To listen on Amazon Alexa, say, “Alexa, play the Christian Habits Podcast.”

About the Author

Chip Ingram is the teaching pastor and CEO of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and discipleship ministry. A pastor for more than thirty years, Chip is the author of many books, including Holy Ambition and The Invisible War. Chip and his wife, Theresa, have four grown children and twelve grandchildren and live in California.

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