Week 2 Fruit of the Spirit: Joy
Hello everyone!! This is week two of our discussion on the fruit of the Spirit. Last week, we went over walking in love. By exploring I Corinthians 13:4-8a, we discovered what love is and what love is not. In John Chapter 13, we saw Jesus’s commandment for us to love one another. Additionally, we were given the model of agape love by our Father. We understood that YAH is our standard for love. We recognized Christ’s sacrificial love in which He willing laid down His life for us. And, through faith in Him, we receive eternal life. Lastly, we recognized the importance of genuinely loving one another, not solely with our words but to follow through with our actions. No lip service, but loving each other sincerely.
Today, we will explore the second fruit of the Spirit: joy. When we experience joy, it is more than a temporary happy feeling. In the biblical context, it can be defined as a profound and abiding sense of happiness and contentment that is rooted in spiritual realities rather than temporal circumstances. In order to walk in joy, we will discuss three areas in which we experience joy: inwardly, expressively to God, and in our interactions with others.
Inner Joy
The first area we experience joy is inwardly. It starts within our hearts. The condition of our heart affects our ability to walk in joy. The trials and hardships of life can attempt to rob us of the joy we have. Nevertheless, we must choose to walk in joy regardless of those experiences. It requires us to exercise maturity to choose joy over despair. Challenges and hardships will come; that is expected in life. It is up to each of us to choose our response when they do come. We can make the decision to stay in a place of defeat wallowing in hopelessness and discontentment. Or, we can choose to put our hope in YAH, experiencing joy despite the unpleasant conditions of life. We must have an inward resolve to put our trust in our Father. When things look bleak and we become discouraged, we have the reassurance that God is our hope. When our circumstances seem unstable, we can find peace and stability in knowing our Father remains consistent. He never changes, and He will not fail us. We can rest in the fact that we are covered by our Father, and regardless of the circumstance, He is with us. He has not left us nor forsaken us. This is a decision we have to make daily. Our adversary, the devil, would like more than anything for us to walk around depressed, defeated, and hopeless due to the trials we face both great and small. So we must overcome those feelings and walk in true joy that is unshakeable because it comes from YAH.
Another reality we must confront as believers is persecution. Whether on a large or small scale, we will experience it. According to 2 Timothy 3:12, it lets us know that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Persecution is unavoidable if we truly live a godly lifestyle in Christ. Instead of dreading the possibility of it, our Savior lets us know to rejoice in it. The persecution and evil words spoken against us, for His sake, let us know we are on the right path. It is all a part of living a righteous lifestyle. The fact that we are experiencing it reassures us of the great reward awaiting us in heaven. So we must endure persecution with gladness, believing that Christ will give us the strength we need in the midst of it.
When trials and persecution come a remedy to maintain our joy is having a posture of gratitude. When we have a heart of thanksgiving, remaining grateful for all that God has done, our focus is shifted from our circumstances to the goodness of God. During life challenges, it is the perfect time to reflect on our history with God and how He has continually sustained us. In doing so, this allows our perspective to shift. Where we previously felt helpless and were in a state of despair, we now have hope and joy in our Father. This is why we must maintain our posture of gratitude toward our Heavenly Father no matter the condition of our lives. This leads us to the next area, expressive joy.
Expressive Joy
With this type of joy, it is an outward expression of what we are experiencing inwardly. The inner joy we have is now witnessed through our actions. Often, the joy we have in God becomes visible in our praise and adoration to Him. The way in which we offer praise reflects the joy we have or the lack thereof. With joyful praise, it is not forced or coerced. We do not need assistance in encouraging us to give praise that is due to our Father. Instead, it flows from a genuine place within our hearts. In the Book of Psalms, the various authors, especially David, clearly articulate their dependency and hope in YAH. Within a particular psalm, it may start with the author focusing on the opposition he is facing and how it is overwhelming. But throughout the psalm, there is a shift in his focus, and he puts his attention on God, exalting God rather than the circumstance. The Book of Psalms gives us plenty of examples to mirror in our daily lives. We may not experience the same situations as the author, but it shows us the importance of having hope and dependency in our God. In maintaining our hope in YAH, we can have joy even in the midst of trials and hardships.
We can use Psalms to remind us to praise God in the midst of challenging times, not waiting until we have overcome the difficulty. When we choose to praise our Father rather than exalting the challenge, we can experience joy. As we are offering praise that is due to our God, we are strengthened, and our focus is on YAH rather than whatever is threatening our joy. What once caused despair, we now have the ability to endure through it because we have joy that comes only from God. We are able to express our joyful adoration in the way we choose to praise God.
Joyful Interactions with Others
The last area in which we can walk in joy is our interactions with others. The inner joy we have should be expressed to those we do life with. If we are operating in true joy, not just temporary happiness, it will be expressed in our engagement with each other. This can not be faked. In the same way we are to genuinely love one another, we should seek to joyfully interact with others. In Acts 2, we witness how the newly converted believers interacted amongst one another. The scripture details that in their interactions, there was unity and togetherness. It depicts a group of people who truly love and enjoy communing with each other. What’s understood is that they are joined together in Spirit. They all may not have been blood-related in the natural. But they now were spiritually related joined togther by their faith in Christ. They all belonged to the same spiritual family, the body of Christ. Unlike natural families, this family was bonded together by the blood of Jesus. It was the believers’ faith and oneness of Spirit that enabled them to have these joyful interactions.
Final Thoughts
One final thing I want to remind you of is that the joy of YAH is your strength. No matter what you may experience, remember He is present with you. Put your hope in Him, and He will endow you with His joy, helping you to endure the trials and hardships that come your way. It is His joy that will allow you to still offer praise even in the midst of your greatest challenges.
Think About It: Personal Reflection
- Am I walking in joy or just experiencing moments of happiness?
- Are there any threats to my joy that I need to confront head-on?
- What do I need to adjust to genuinely walk in joy?
**Scriptures used from the New King James Bible and the authorized King James Bible
**Definitions from the Oxford Dictionary and biblehub.com
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