Fruit of the Spirit “Joy”

Joy is described as a “heightened emotion or great expectation of an inner experience of something pleasurable or good.” Joy is synonymous with happiness. Happiness is temporary; its effects never last but only offer a momentary gratification of a false emotion.

There is something so extraordinary when a person begins to display the characteristics of indispensable joy through sharing the love of Christ. When I mediate on the word joy, I cannot help but believe that it is joy that enables us to see life, of who God is and who I am not. When life seems to be unstable and no matter what it is that we do, we find joy in awaking to an understanding of the Sovereignty of God and knowing that sovereignty without any doubt. 

Let’s look at a hypothetical situation: a non-believer going out on the town with friends for a night filled with dancing and laughter. As they arrived at the neighbor hangout where the atmosphere is filled with excitement and loud music, they partake in all the activities ‘till the early morning hours. Happiness sets into a state of ecstasy or at least until the next morning. Imagine this: as they wake up in the morning with a splitting hangover and an empty pocket, things will look a lot of different in the morning than they did the night before. This is the aftermath of temporary happiness.

Joy runs deeper than mere pleasure; it is more enduring than mere fun, and is more intense and thrilling than mere happiness. It jumps up and shouts! Especially in a spiritual context, joy runs deeps into the core of us, and radiates throughout. Joy is the response of something deep in the soul to someone such as God, or a loved one. We can seek joy, but we cannot find true joy by merely seeking pleasurable excitement. The best and longest sustains joys results from self-forgetful activity.

True joy can be sought, but it must be sought God’s way. It must arise as a product of yielding completely to the creative purpose of God, the master Creator. Joy that is a fruit of God’s Spirit has its roots in the realization of God’s purpose. It is working out that purpose that transforms us into His image. Therefore, in all things, pleasurable and un-pleasurable, we are to simply seek out Christ and not allow our temporary state of happiness to dictate our outcome. In other words, if the Fruit of the Spirit is love, then joy should arise out of it.

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