The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22, 23.
These are the fruit of the Spirit so we always look for their
source in the Holy Spirit and their clearest exemplification in Jesus. What
better example could we start with than Luke 10:21― At that time Jesus, full of
joy through the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and
revealed them to little children.’ In fact, Psalm 45:6, 7 and Hebrews 1:9 tell
us that Jesus was anointed above his companions, “with the oil of joy.”
So, just what is this “joy”? From a
scriptural standpoint, W.E.Vine’s Dictionary of the Bible says the word in
Galatians (Greek chara) is “joy,
delight”. The reference in Luke 10 (Greek
agalliasis), is “exultation,
exuberant joy”. It seems almost like a child getting their gifts on Christmas
morning. Dare we say that Jesus was at last seeing something He had waited all
eternity for? Among other causes for His rejoicing, He now has disciples whose
names are written in heaven, and they have believed simply, like children.
Where does this take us in our own
experience of joy? Think for a moment of the poor woman whose tears wet Jesus’
feet. Were they tears of remorse? I don’t think so. She was most thankful―they
were tears of joy. I’ve heard of believers who may never have experienced the
breaking of bread or even communion before. The realization of what Jesus has
done for them, and hearing others put it into words, overwhelms them, just like
this woman.
But what about joy in the souls of us
long-time believers? Is it there? Sometimes it steals up on us when we least
expect it. Perhaps now we are coming around to C.S.Lewis and his “joy”, as in
his book “Surprised by Joy”.
I was taken by a friend to a large
city-church of a mainline denomination and, frankly, I was skeptical of the
level of spirituality and worship that I would see. In fact, I was stirred to
my depths― all these people around me, none of whom I knew―and all singing the
praises of Jesus, loud and clear― “Jesus Saves!”, “Take the Name of Jesus with
You”, “It is Finished, the Battle Is Over”… “Joy” was the operative word for me
at that moment.
Joy comes in quieter ways too. I have
sat with my children and grandchildren around a dinner table and, amid all the
hubbub, I’ve thought, “Lord, it doesn’t get any better than this! Thank you.”
Let’s go back to our verse for a
moment. “Joy” is the fruit of the Spirit, but it is difficult to see how we can
produce it in ourselves. Maybe instead it is our job to help produce it for
others. This would be an obvious outcome of the love we talked about last time.
Love is patient? Love is kind? Love always protects? Love keeps no record of
wrongs? Against such things there certainly is no law!
