The Joy of the Lord

Learn more about the fruit of joy as we continue our series on the fruit of the Spirit.

The second fruit of the Spirit that is mentioned in Galatians 5:22 is joy. According to Merriam-Webster, joy is defined as the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires; a state of happiness or felicity. As we can see here, this definition suggests that we can only experience joy when things are going well, and life is good. This way of thinking could be a major contributor to why we see so many believers, and non-believers alike, struggling with depression – when our circumstances are not positive this definition suggests that joy cannot be present. The world, and even many Christians, tend to mistake joy for a feeling and as such, presents the view that joy is only temporal. While there are emotional attributes to this fruit, it is spiritual in nature and manifests itself physically at times. True joy holds eternal value and can only come from within. It is not swayed by circumstances and it’s activated when we are connected to something greater than ourselves but don’t take my word for it, let’s prove this theory with help from the scriptures.

Joy is often mistaken for a feeling and, as such, presents a view that joy is only temporal.

In John 15:4-10, we read that Christ is the vine and we are the branches. We are reminded that we can do nothing apart from Christ – just like a branch cannot bear fruit apart from the vine, we are unable to bear fruit apart from Jesus. The joy that is referenced in John 15:11 suggests that the joy of God is different than the joy of mankind. If this were not so, why else would an emphasis be put on the fact that it is God’s joy that He wants to remain in us? Now, there’s a dilemma! Maybe society has it wrong but let’s continue. In Hebrews 12:2, we see that Jesus endured the cross and the scripture suggests that joy was involved in this act. This is contradictory to what Merriam-Webster told us about joy earlier. The common belief is that joy is only present when things are wonderful however dying on a cross for a world that may never love and accept you is the exact opposite of wonderful. This shows us a couple of things. First, much like the other fruit of the Spirit, this indicates that joy does not operate alone and can only manifest when there is love. And second, it denotes that joy is not a feeling and circumstances do not determine whether joy is present and active in our lives.

Joy is the preeminent illustration of gladness and delight. In Psalm 37:4, we are told to delight in the Lord. To delight in someone or something means that we take great pleasure in that person or thing. We cannot take pleasure in anything that we do not get to know and understand – that is why building and nurturing a relationship with God is so important. Joy is shown as something that only our Father in heaven can fill us with. The bible depicts it as something that brings about hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). This all loops right back to the Lord, as we are reminded in Jeremiah 29:11, that God came to give us a future and a hope. There are many scriptures that will allow us to proceed in our efforts to unfold the characteristics of joy, but we will end here. It is my hope that the information presented has given you a head start in your own personal study and, ultimately, in your understanding of this spiritual fruit.