JOY

"The Fruit of the Holy Spirit – Joy?"

The "fruit ofthe Spirit" is what happens when the Holy Spirit indwells a believer. The "fruit" is the product of the Holy Spirit's cultivation of character in a heart. Galatians 5:22-23 describes what that fruit looks like; the second characteristic listed is joy.

The Greek word for joy is chara. Joy is the natural reaction to the work of God, whether promised or fulfilled. Joy expresses God's kingdom—His influence on earth (Romans 14:17). The Spirit’s production of joy can manifest in several different ways:

Chara is closely related to charis, which means “grace” or “a gift.” Chara is the normal response to charis—we have joy because of God's grace. The next step in the progression is to allow our joy to become an action as we express it, although sometimes joy can be so great it is inexpressible (1 Peter 1:8).

Possessing joy is a choice. We choose whether to value God's presence, promises, and work in our lives. When we yield to the Spirit, He opens our eyes to God's grace around us and fills us with joy (Romans 15:13). Joy is not to be found in a fallen world; it is only fellowship with God that can make our joy complete (1 John 1:4).

The joy of deliverance: When God sets someone free, rejoicing is in order. 

The joy of salvation: Our greatest reason to be joyful is that God wants to save us and spend eternity with us. Nothing is better than this. 

Luke 15:7: All heaven is joyful when a person accepts God's provision of salvation. 

The joy of spiritual maturity: As the Holy Spirit works in us to bear more fruit, we become confident in God's promises and rejoice in our walk with Him and with other believers. 

John 15:11: The fullness of joy comes to those who continue in the love of Christ and obey Him.

The joy of God's presence: The Holy Spirit draws us to God, in whose presence we can know true joy. Without the Holy Spirit, no one would seek God.

Psalm 16:11: “You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Why demonstrate joy? If we truly believe what God has told us in His Bible, then we have plenty to rejoice about. There will be times of mourning in this life (deaths of loved ones or life changes), but even in those times of sorrow and weeping, the underlying joy of God’s plan for humanity (including the resurrection of loved ones and the solving of this world’s problems) must reign in our hearts and actions. Easier said than done, right?

Joy self-examination questionnaire

How are we doing in growing in the fruit of joy? To find out, ask yourself questions such as:

Am I more positive or more negative? What examples from my life prove this?

Is my joy for the truth the Bible and God’s Kingdom greater than my joy for physical things? How do I know?

Am I a complainer (do I criticize and tear down) or an encourager (do I build up)? How do I know?

Would others describe me as joyful, or as negative and grumpy? Why would they say that?

How do we demonstrate more joy?

We face many things that can steal our joy: stressful jobs, illnesses, deaths of loved ones, economic strain, dangerous situations, daily annoyances and frustrations, people calling us delusional for following the Bible, etc.

So how do we demonstrate more joy in our lives? The answer is simple: We must change our thinking. It’s important to realize the process is a lifelong struggle with our minds. Here are some ideas:

When praying, list as many physical and spiritual blessings as you can think of. Strive to have a spirit of gratefulness and excitement about everything you’ve been given.

Remind yourself to continually think about the benefits of God’s way vs. Satan’s way. Compare the way the world is now vs. the way the world will be at Christ’s return. You may want to put reminders on your phone, write messages on sticky notes or do something else to make yourself stop and think about this regularly.

Text, write or call others with encouraging phrases, Scripture quotes or even funny comments, knowing that joy in God’s blessings and truth is contagious with believers. For example: “Have a great day at work being a light to a dark world” or “The joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b) or even “A smile is a curve that sets everything straight” (Phyllis Diller).

When we consider, and truly believe, the amazing truth of the coming Kingdom of God and our part in it, how can we not be purely joyful in every aspect of our lives? For the Joy of the Lord is my strength!

Be blessed and be a blessing because you are blessed!