I’m really excited about this, because joy is one of my favorite fruits of the Spirit. The more that I’ve gotten to understand what joy is, I’ve been able to feel much closer to God, to connect with unbelievers and be a light to them in a different way than before. When I first dedicated my life to following Christ, I learned what joy was, and it is a lesson that I still carry with me today. This is because it is so vital to how I live my life and how I distinguish myself from the world. The joy that comes from God and knowing Him is so different than anything else I’ve ever experienced from living for the world, so when I show joy in my daily life, other people often notice it. Today I want to share with you all my personal experiences with joy and why it is a fruit of the Spirit that we can use to display God’s work in us.
Isn’t joy just happiness?
For a lot of people, joy and happiness are basically the same thing: just a good feeling you get when something good happens. Joy is often used to describe an extreme sort of happiness. And while there is some truth to that, joy is so much more than just happiness. The difference between the two is you can have joy regardless of your circumstances. It is more than what you are going though, while happiness is very dependent on your conditions. It sounds like a strange concept, but that is the beautiful thing about joy. When God gives you this fruit of the Spirit, it won’t go away if you had a bad day or messed up. Philippians is known as the most joyful book of the Bible, even though the author, Paul, wrote it in prison! You would think that his circumstances would have given Paul a reason to mope around and feel sorry for what he was going through, but instead he chose to be joyful and celebrate what God was doing to build His kingdom at that time. This is because Paul had an eternal mindset: he knew that whatever happens in this world should never be your main concern. Your priority should be about what happens in eternity, and where people go after death. “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8-9). This is why joy is something unattainable to people that have never accepted Jesus into their hearts: the joy of knowing that you will spend your eternity of God only comes after giving your life away to the expansion of the kingdom of Heaven.
How to find joy
There is a pretty obvious answer here, one that I’ve already mentioned, but I feel like it needs some more unpacking to fully understand it. Like I said, the only way that we can obtain true joy is through accepting Christ as your personal savior and dedicating your life to growing the kingdom of God. Since this is easily the biggest decision that you’ll ever make in your life, it is safe to say that you will already be experiencing joy. If having a great day can make you so happy you can’t stop smiling, imagine how amazing it felt or would feel to know that your eternity is now changed forever for the better!
“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. he will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35:1-10).
In this passage, I noticed that the joy of the people is connected to the fact that they have been redeemed by the Lord. Because they have confidence in God, the people have received an “everlasting joy”, and it says that it even makes the sadness flee! When you are happy, there is no doubt that it lets you forget what you’re going through, at least for a little bit, but joy has the ability to completely wipe away your sorrows and what you are worried about. Isn’t that just beautiful?
So, there’s your answer. If you want to have an unending joy fill your spirit, the only solution is to look to God and have confidence that He has redeemed you from an eternity in hell. Rejoice in the fact that your sins have been wiped away and forgiven, and let your cup overflow with the joy that God has filled you with. Even when you go through hardships, and feel the pressure from other people, circumstances, or even from inside yourself, you will always have joy at the end, because God is greater than anything you will ever go through. As a well-known verse says, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalm 30:5).
My experience with joy
One of the reasons why joy is one of my favorite fruits of the spirit is because it has had such a beautiful impact on my life and my walk with Christ, even just in the last two years. On the very first day of my authentic relationship with the Lord, I learned what joy truly was. My whole body and heart was filled with this strange feeling, and it was beautiful. The only way that I can explain it is true joy. It had finally clicked in my brain what it meant to truly know God and to cultivate a relationship with Him, and knowing that was literally life changing. I was elated that I could develop a relationship with the One who made the stars, the earth, and everything on it. I was shocked to learn what it took to love God each and every day, but I was so excited to start that I couldn’t keep my joy in. What a wonderful thing it was! I couldn’t stop smiling for weeks, because I finally understood what I had been taught since birth: God loves you so much and he wants nothing more than to know you day in and day out. It doesn’t matter how you feel, what you do, or what you did that day to get closer to God, He will never quit pursuing you.
I lived so long as what people would refer to as a “lukewarm Christian” that when I finally made my relationship with the Lord my own, my cup was suddenly overflowing with the joy that I had sung about from the nursery on up to the high school ministry. Yes, you may go to church every Sunday, and listen to the occasional worship song. However, if you don’t prioritize spending time with God every day, and pursue sanctification, you’ll never be able to fully experience the fruit of the Spirit that is joy. I understand what it’s like to never really make your faith your own and simply go through the service every Sunday morning, because I did that for fourteen years of my life. Once it clicked for me, though, it was revolutionary.
I think the reason that joy was the first experience I had with really getting to know God is that it is such a recognizable fruit in your life. Everybody has good days, but when you show joy even in the hardest moments, it will stand out. I know that it is so much easier to complain and be sad, but when you are grateful for where you are and recognize that your eternal home is in heaven with the Lord, people do notice. The ability to have an eternal mindset and never forget the fact that you are chosen and loved by the Creator of the universe will give you so much joy that your cup will overflow. It’s astounding!
For the next two weeks, my goal will be to focus on showing joy. Regardless of my circumstances, or what is happening around me, I want to learn more about joy and how it can impact the people around me. My hope is that you are all encouraged to do this too, because if you do, people will notice, and they will see Christ living in your heart.
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