Joy

Photo by Gabriele Diwald on Unsplash

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY..."

The past few weeks have been pretty challenging ones - long days at the office preparing for a conference; long days not at the office making the conference happen; not to mention rain and darker days putting an autumn tinge on everything in sight.

Yet, in the middle of this hectic season, I've learnt a fair few lessons about joy. And the first thing of significance is that it's not just dependant on our emotional state. No, joy is something much deeper:

"Joy is a state of mind and an orientation of the heart. "  - Theopedia

Joy isn't just an extension of happiness - joy is when we resolve to look beyond that which is external and fleeting to focus on what is constant and true. So it's hardly surprising that joy is a fruit of the Spirit - it comes from the God who is alive within each of us.

Yet, this makes joy a challenging gift to grab hold of, sometimes. We can often look beyond our circumstances to understand God's love, but harnessing God's joy is a challenge when our lives feel anything but. This is especially true when our society and culture continuously tells us about the significance of the self, and the importance of our emotions. We're fooled into believing that how we feel is what we are - that we are defined by our present emotional state.

Yet, I've found that the key to joy  - to looking beyond ourselves to the God who is within us - is to remind ourselves of that first fruit that also exists inside of us. Because joy stems from love.

We are most joy-filled when we are most loved; when we recognise that God's love is constant; that God became man and sacrificed everything for us. Love is the way that we re-orient our hearts; the only way our heart can be re-oriented. And the truth is that no matter what's going on, we are always loved. This constant love and knowledge of our true identity brings joy.

That's the thing I'm discovering on this fruit-of-the-spirit journey: they're undeniably connected. We can't receive love and joy, yet miss out on patience. We don't just get self-control without goodness. They're intertwined and intermingled within one another; gifts together and not apart.

And so I've found joy is best found when I stop and recognise the God who created me and loves me relentlessly; when I remember the big picture of the world I find myself in. Ultimately, no circumstance or situation on earth will endure forever. Yet the Bible speaks of an eternity of joy: without death, mourning, crying or pain.

This truth means that even when things are busy, dark or stressful, I'm always able to look beyond these circumstances and recognise that joy can always be found.

The everlasting fruit of Joy will never dissolve or fade.


This is the third blog in a series on the Fruit of the Spirit. Follow the series by the label "The Gifts".