Fruit of the Spirit: Joy

The second fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 is joy. This one, as with love, is not a topic that is new to this blog. I have written about it here and here before. But let us look at it again, because joy is something all of us can do with more of.

Christians should be the happiest people we know. Agree? Yet, I have felt for a while now that doesn’t seem to be the general consensus…and maybe you’ve felt it, too. Why is that? Why is it that the people who claim to have found true joy and abundant life in the person of Jesus Christ don’t reflect it in their faces, attitudes, thoughts, business dealings or home environments? Listen, I get it. I really do. It’s hard, y’all.
– Candace Payne (from Faith Gateway)

Candace captures the situation that most people find themselves in really well. Joy, overflowing, unstoppable joy, should be the natural result of being a child of God. And yet… that is most of the time far from our everyday reality.

Philippians 4:4 (WEBBE): 4Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”

Real joy comes from God, and has nothing to do with our circumstances. If we remain in Him, walking in a relationship with God, then joy will flow from that.

So we have all heard that before I am sure. But how do we put this into practice?

Psalm 27:4 (WEBBE): 4One thing I have asked of the LORD, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the LORD’s house all the days of my life, to see the LORD’s beauty, and to enquire in his temple.

King David desired above all else to spend time with God, as we see in his Psalm 27. Back in the old testament times, spending time with God meant going to the temple.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (WEBBE): 16Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

Today the Holy Spirit lives inside us! We can spend time with God whenever we want! So just make time in your day, every day, to spend some time with God. Just be quiet in His presence. And you will experience His JOY!