Friday 9 January

Living in God’s Joy

Scripture Reference:

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:24

Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

Proverbs 17:22

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

One of the most prominent themes in the Bible is joy. Joy is more than an emotion; it is one of the fruits of the Spirit. We mistakenly assume that we can be joyful only when things are going as well as anticipated. We also believe the opposite – that it is impossible to be joyful in the midst of pain and hardship. The enemy has convinced us that joy is entirely beyond our control and depends on our circumstances. He has helped us regard joy as something beyond our reach unless everything in our lives falls into place. Yet, we learn that God’s interpretation of joy is very different. His word doesn’t describe joy as a fleeting, temporary, or fickle emotion. It is something good for us. 

The Holy Spirit can produce joy in your heart, nourishing your soul ⎯ even in the darkest circumstances. God, the creator of joy, did not place joy out of our reach or make its presence in our lives dependent on our circumstances. Instead, He lovingly created the nature of joy (as well as love, patience, goodness, and all the other fruits of the spirit) to be a product of our relationship with Him. That is why you can see people living the most amazing seasons of their lives and still lack joy, while others experience the driest, most painful seasons and somehow remain joyful. 

The latter have learned how to grow the fruit of joy in their lives through the help of the Holy Spirit. They don’t wait for their circumstances to change, telling themselves they will be happier when they get what they are waiting for or that joy is unobtainable. They have learned to cultivate joy and enjoy its sweetness during every season of their lives. Joy, like any other fruit, requires intentional choice. In order to reap it, we have to make a conscious decision. 

The fruit of joy will never grow in a heart full of bitterness or malice, and it cannot thrive in a place of lack of forgiveness or unwillingness to let the past go. We must ensure that we have healthy hearts that allow God to produce joy in them.