Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is…joy.

People who enjoy drinking like to say, “It’s always Happy Hour somewhere!” Sadly, when the hour is over, the happiness usually ends, too. One’s happiness always depends on what’s happening…or worse yet, happenstance. Its shelf life is always fleeting, and its roots are never deep. It’s fine to enjoy it when it happens, but to try and hold on to it is as fruitless as chasing after the wind, to use Solomon’s phrase.

Joy, on the other hand, lasts. It has sticking power. In the original Greek, the word is chara, a feeling of great pleasure, of inner gladness, or of delight. Joy is an emotion evoked by a sense of well-being. It is a deep feeling of happiness and contentment. Joy in the NT is virtually always used to signify a feeling of “happiness” that is based on spiritual realities (independent of what “happens”). Joy is a depth of assurance and confidence that ignites a cheerful heart. Joy is not necessarily an experience that comes from favorable circumstances but is God’s gift from His Spirit to Believers. In sum, Joy is the deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the heart of the person who is filled with the Spirit and knows all is well between himself and the Lord.

Happiness Happens…but Joy Abides.

There was a Christian conference at a certain church in Omaha. People were given helium-filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. The congregation in this church wasn’t normally free to express themselves with an open “Hallelujah!” or a “Praise the Lord!” All through the service balloons ascended, but when it was over…1/3 of the balloons were unreleased. Isn’t that sad? Perhaps they were waiting for some feeling to happen, rather than simply acknowledging all that is already true in Christ Jesus.

Are you still holding your balloon? Here are ways the Scripture tells us will help you experience maximum joy:

• Repentance brings joy (Lk 15:7, 10).
• The hope (absolute assurance) of future glory brings joy (1 Pe 4:13).
• The Lord’s Word brings joy (John 15:11).
• Prayer brings joy (John 16:24).
• The presence and fellowship of believers brings joy (1 Jn 1:3-4).
• Converts bring joy (Lk 15:5; Php 4:1; 1 Th. 2:19-20)
• Hearing that those you have discipled are walking in the truth brings joy (3 Jn 4).
• Giving brings joy (2 Co 8:2).
• Fellowship with Father and Son brings joy – we need to “keep short accounts” by confessing our sins so that this fellowship is not adversely affected (1 Jn 1:3, 4, 9).

As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend:

“It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians—and I am one of them.”

I hope you are, too.