What is joy?
I have really wrestled with this question this week. I am grateful for the clarity I have received, but I think I still have quite a way to go. Galatians 5 tells us that Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. It is not a gift that we are given or a prize that we obtain. Joy is something that is produced by the Holy Spirit. We can try to manufacture it on our own, but it will never quite be the same thing because Joy has only one source.
Joy has a Maker
Joy is from the Lord. It is a fruit of his spirit. We experience tastes of this joy in many ways (a friend’s laugh, a child’s smile, the warmth of the sun), but it is critical to recognize that while these things may be bearing joy, there is a source greater. James 1:17 reminds us that goodness and perfection comes from God. It’s not creation that brings Joy, it is the Creator.
We receive Joy when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior and are filled with his Holy Spirit. 1Peter 1:8 explains how those who love and trust the Lord have a joy that is inexpressible. No person or thing can truly fill you with joy in this way, and asking someone or something to do this task is burden to heavy for them to bear.
There is power in Semantics
I think it is important when Christians consider what brings us joy that we recognize God as the source.
Family and Friends — God’s gift of family and friendship
My Children — The Lord’s blessing of my children
Nature — God’s creation
The difference seems subtle, but the emery thrives in subtle. Consider Genesis: “Did God really say that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” He only changed the one word. There is power in the way we word things. When we leave God out of the conversation of Joy we may lose sight of its wellspring.
Choose Joy
Christians are meant to be joy bringers not joy seekers. In scripture, we are not commanded to find joy, yet over and over we find the command to rejoice! This is because, if we know Christ, we have been filled with Joy and our Joy is complete (John 15;11). This does not mean that Christians should never feel sorrowful or downtrodden, but it means that no matter what we experience, the Joy of the Lord is always within us. Knowing Christ and having the dwelling of the Holy Spirit within us is reason for Joy regardless of suffering. We, like many of the heroes of the faith that have gone before us, can choose joy in Christ no matter what our circumstances may be. It’s not a denial of our situation. It’s coming to a full understanding that while it hurts, “the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18.
Lacking Joy?
If you don’t know Christ and you don’t have the fullness of Joy that comes from being filled with his Spirit, you may be seeking Joy in the wrong places. You may find yourself going from person to person or thing to thing in attempts to fill yourself with Joy. These people and things cannot give you what you are looking for. I beg you to call upon Jesus - in his presence is the fullness of Joy (Psalm 16:11).
