Joy: The Fruit of the Spirit of Christ
By Alastair Hayward
The Scripture verses we are looking at are Isaiah 65:18 and Galatians 5:22-25.
In this corona time, it can be particularly difficult to be joyful as the regulations seem to change every week, sometimes even more often. Each time the rules seem to get stricter. Last Christmas, our plans were thrown into disarray when the UK announced a stricter, Tier 4 lockdown. Our son was to be in Munich for the holidays, but he had to cancel his plans. I think such experiences are the same for many people who are now getting tired of the virus. So, how can we experience joy in these difficult and unsettling times?
First, joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is a passing frothy, bubbliness, but joy is much more deep-seated than that. The joy which Paul describes here is one of the many fruits of the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit enters our hearts when we become Christians—turning us away from our old self-centered lives and turning us to Jesus to trust in him. He is the Spirit of adoption as sons and daughters of God so that we can call God “Abba, Father.”
Second, joy is not a Pollyannaish happiness. In 2 Corinthians 6:10, the apostle Paul speaks about being “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Here was a man who had suffered more than his fair share of trials—shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonment, and more. Like him, through our difficult times, joy is a fruit of the Spirit that God will naturally produce in our lives as we live for him. It is important to understand that only God himself can give us the ability to respond to life’s difficult circumstances with that same inner contentment and satisfaction as the apostle.
Third, we need to focus our gaze upon Jesus and not on the circumstances that surround us and threaten to overwhelm us—like Peter did when he got out of the boat to join Jesus walking on water. In Matthew, it says, “Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “Why did you doubt?” Peter could walk on water as long as he focused on Jesus and not on the wind and waves. We need to remember that God is in complete control and that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Fourth, we should count our blessings and thank God for them. There is an old chorus that goes, “Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” It is a natural human inclination to think that living through trials and negative circumstances cannot be an occasion for joy. Choosing to respond to life’s difficult situations with inner contentment and satisfaction doesn’t seem to make sense. Yet, the Christian believer can experience genuine joy in all its fullness by taking the initiative to actively consider all that God is doing and that he has a definite purpose in mind for his people.
So to live a life of joy and contentment, this is what we need to do:
- Focus on Jesus.
- Count our blessings.
- And remember, God is still fully in control even in these difficult circumstances so we can experience joy.
