The Fruit of the Spirit is Joy

The Declaration of Independence in the US says that everyone has the right to pursue happiness.

The pursuit of happiness or joy is considered a right. Everybody wants it. But pursuing joy leads people in many directions. It leads some to become workaholics to achieve career success and others to retire early. It leads some to move to the big cities for a career and others to move to the countryside to enjoy nature. It leads some to pursue a relationship and some to end one.

So what is the key to joy? How do you get it?

We are going to look at three people and the Biblical principles of joy we can learn from them: David, Paul, and Habakkuk.

The Example of David –

Sin zaps our joy.

David was king of Israel. He was a great king and loved God. But David fell into temptation and sinned. While walking on his roof, he saw a beautiful woman and called her to come to the palace. He slept with her and got her pregnant. Then he tried to cover what he had done, eventually sending Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, to the front of the battle lines so that he would get killed. David committed adultery and then murder.

In Psalm 32, David describes the misery he felt when he was living with this sin.

Psalms 32:3-4 – For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

He felt crushed beneath the weight of guilt and shame. He felt like his bones were wasting away. He had no strength. He felt crushed by an invisible weight.

David’s guilt and inner turmoil went on for over nine months.

During these nine months, most people would not have known the battle raging in David’s heart. He surely still performed his roles as king. He likely showed up at events and at the temple. As most leaders do, he likely pasted on a smile and carried on with life. On the outside, he may have looked happy. He may have looked like everything was going jolly. But it was a lie. A farce. During this time, he had no peace. He certainly had no joy.

Sin took it away. Though he was living as a king with everything the world could offer, he couldn’t enjoy any of it because he was living in willful sin.

Has sin taken away your joy? Does guilt keep you awake at night? Do you come to church with a smile on your face and guilt in your heart?

Covering up your sin is the quickest way to kill joy in your life.

Perhaps you’re not a joyful person. If you are depressed, consider whether it might be unconfessed sin causing it. It is not always the case (Job was blameless), but sometimes it is.

David recognized this and he came to God to be washed clean.

Psalms 51:7-12 – Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

David fully confessed his sin to God. He stopped hiding it. He came clean and he was purified. He was restored. God gave him joy again.

Whether guilt or loss or fear or exhaustion is draining the joy from your life, God is the answer. Joy is the result of living a God honoring life. This is what God said to Cain.

Genesis 4:7 – If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.

David sinned. He lost joy. He confessed. His joy was restored. Fairly simple.

Joy is the result of living a God honoring life.

God hardwired us in such a way that when we live for God, joy is the normal and natural result.

Which action will bring joy into your life?

The answer to each of these questions is obvious and we know them. But many times, we choose the short-term pleasure, the dopamine rush, instead of God. Trying to chase after our own happiness, we actually lose our joy.

Joy is a natural result God gives to those who live a God-honoring life.

Review. Sin zaps joy. Joy is the result of living a God honoring life.

Joy is also a cause of living a God-honoring life

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Which comes first, joy or thanksgiving? Joy or peace? Joy or self-control?

Joy is a result of putting God first. But joy also results in putting God first.

David didn’t experience joy because he sinned and that zapped it. But also, he sinned because he didn’t choose to enjoy and be content with what he had. God made David a king. He gave him a throne, a palace, riches, victories, and wives. In that moment of temptation, David did not view those as enough. David should have said, “God, you have given me more than enough. I not only have all of these things, but I have you. You are all I need. I don’t need another woman.” He should have chosen the joy of contentment instead of the desire for more.

Choosing to enjoy what God has given you with contentment will protect you from many sins.

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit’s work in our life.

Galatians 5 doesn’t say, “be joyful on your own.” It is a fruit of the Spirit. Joy is possible when you ask the Spirit to work in and through you.

Today, my message is not “Try harder to be joyful.” Many people try this on their own and fail.

You have to go to the source of joy, God. You get true joy from Him not from the world.

Application – If there is any sin in your life that is zapping your joy, confess it to God. Bring it to the light because you won’t experience true joy until you do.

Paul and Silas – Acts 16

The Joy of Living with Purpose (also, the joy of doing the right thing)

Acts 16:24-25 – Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Acts 16:30-31 – Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Paul and Silas were thrown in prison and kept in chains, not for a crime, but for serving God.

Prisons at that time were not nice places. Generally, they were dark, wet, and overcrowded. Poor ventilation and terrible sanitation were the norm.

Many people in their situation would complain. If the two believers had done that, they would have missed an opportunity to witness for Christ.

Paul and Silas give us a powerful example of responding to a bad situation with joy. Instead of complaining, they pray and then sing praises to God. God doesn’t call us to a life of ease. He calls us to live a life of service. They found joy in serving. Even in prison, they were being a testimony to the other prisoners.

Then, when they had a chance to escape, they instead shared the gospel with the prison magistrate. He asked them, “What must I do to be saved?” That is not a normal question you ask a prisoner. Paul and Silas had clearly shared something with him already. Throughout their imprisonment, they were thinking of others. That gave them joy.

JOY – Joy is putting Jesus First, Others Second, Yourself Last

You don’t find joy by pursuing it. You find it by trying to give it away. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive.

I am amazed at what a genius designer God is. He specifically made us to experience joy when we give up short-term pleasures to live for Him.

Dr. Paul Brand was a missionary surgeon who spent much of his life treating leprosy patients in India and Africa. He gave up a prestigious medical career to serve them.

This is what he said about his career choice, treating these outcasts from society.

We face that same decision almost daily. Which will bring more joy in your life, keeping your seat on the metro by averting your gaze from an elderly person standing in front of you, or graciously giving her your seat?

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit’s work in our lives.

He gives our life purpose and direction. As we live for Him, the result is joy.

Application – Live for God and not for yourself.

Are you discouraged and lonely? Does your life feel empty and joyless?

Don’t be like Eyore.

You will not find joy sitting in your room feeling sorry for yourself and wishing people would treat you more nicely. You will find it by getting out of your room and off your phone and investing in others’ lives.

Evaluate how much time you spend serving God and people.

That is what Paul and Silas did. They experienced true joy even in a prison cell. They were not empty because their lives and time were full of ministering to others.

Habakkuk – Habakkuk 3:17-19

Joy is not dependent on circumstances

Habakkuk describes a catastrophic trial. He talks about a day when his entire livelihood was destroyed. The crops produce NO FOOD, none. The orchards that need years to plant and tend have no fruit, not even blossoms. This is a disaster for a farmer living off the land.

After this, however, the trials only get worse. You can imagine Habakkuk starting to panic as he walks through his fields. The magnitude of the disaster in front of him is starting to dawn on him. How will his family have enough food for the coming year? Well, if worst comes to worst, he can always sell his sheep to make ends meet. But his sheep are all gone. They have all disappeared into thin air. He rushes to the cattle stalls. ALL GONE!

The trial that Habakkuk describes here is sudden and catastrophic. There is no warning and no explanation. There are no answers to the question “why?” or “how?” or “why me?”

If Habakkuk were set in modern-day Guangzhou, he may have written something like this:

Though my salary never arrives,
And I was fired suddenly from my job,
Though my bank account is empty
And WeChat Pay is frozen
Though my English students refuse to pay me,
And my refrigerator is empty
Though there is no deliveryman at the door
And no food on the table…

Today, many of you are facing trials.

They may be financial trials, relationship difficulties, or health problems.

I believe that God is good all the time. Do you? His truth is still true even when it is hard to understand. God has your best interests at heart. His will is for your sanctification.

God sends trials into your life to grow you. They have a purpose.

James 1:3 – The testing of your faith produces perseverance.

God uses trials to grow your character. He sends trials to you because He loves you. We often focus on the here and now, but God is concerned with our eternal well-being. If a trial today can improve your character for a thousand years, then it is worth it. God has a purpose in trials.

You do not face trials alone. God is our good shepherd, walking beside us. He also gives us Christian fellowship to encourage us.

All of this is to say that joy does not depend on circumstances.

Habakkuk describes a disaster. But he says that he will rejoice. Did something change? Was he rejoicing that the sheep and cattle came back? No. Nothing in his situation changed for the better. But it was still possible to have joy.

There was once an elderly woman who suffered chronically from a painful illness. Her pastor went to visit her to see how she was doing. She was in good spirits and smiled at him. He asked why she was so joyful. And she told him, “I have a lovely robin that sings outside my window. I love him because he sings in the rain.” When storms silence most other birds, robins keep right on singing in the rain. Singing in the sunshine is easy, but we need to learn to sing joyful praises to God even in the midst of storms.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 says to “Rejoice always.” This is not a suggestion. It is a command. We are commanded to rejoice always. By His grace, we can.

Joy is a choice

Verse 18 – “I WILL rejoice.” Habakkuk makes a decision. He decides in his heart and before the Lord that no matter how difficult things become, he will respond with a good attitude and be joyful. True joy is not an artificial smile that we paste on to cover over our true feelings.

When I went through training for the teaching job I have, my school told all the teachers to “check our problems at the door.” In the classroom, we are supposed to smile and pretend to be happy no matter how we feel. Joy is not like that, just a fake exterior we put up to show others.

Neither does joy mean there is no room for sadness. There is a time and a place for grieving. Habakkuk was not “happy” about all the disasters he and his nation would face.

He didn’t hear about this and say “Woo hoo!” Happiness and joy are different. Rejoicing always doesn’t mean that when I stub my toe, I shout “YES!”

God designed us to feel an entire spectrum of emotions. Sadness and frustration are two of them.

And yet, even in tough or painful circumstances, we can make a decision that we will not complain. We will not become angry with God. We will not become grumpy with the people around us.

Joy is a decision to keep a good attitude before the Lord and men. We will remain thankful and optimistic. We will remember God’s goodness and place our faith in the fact that the trial we face has a purpose.

Is it that easy? Just decide to be joyful?

Yes, it is possible. I have seen this with my children. One may be upset and angry. You can see the bad countenance on her face. She doesn’t want to listen to instructions or pray. She wants to be mad.
I think we all feel like that sometimes.

But then sometimes I pray for her and encourage her to decide to be joyful. When she makes that decision, her entire countenance changes in an instant. Her face is no longer hardened. Her jawline and eyes soften. She smiles. And she runs off happily laughing, choosing to lay aside whatever thing had been bothering her just seconds before.

You choose joy when you forgive someone who sins against you instead of allowing bitterness to take root.

You choose joy when a driver cuts in front of you and you laugh it off and hum a tune or pray for them.

You choose joy when you remain others-centered even when you are sick and in pain.

We are commanded to “Rejoice always” (1 Thess 5:18). That means that it is not something which happens to us. It is a choice that we make.

How is this possible?

Joy is based on our relationship with God

It is a decision to say “I will rejoice” even when it is difficult. But it is also more than this. It is a fruit of the Spirit’s work in your life.

Habakkuk said, “I will rejoice in the Lord.” and “I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” He is joyful because of his relationship with God. He is saved. Salvation far outweighs any trials he could ever face.

The “secret” of joy is to have an eternal perspective.

Visa troubles, sickness, financial hardship, relationship stress; these fade when we consider the spiritual blessings we have from God. Forgiveness. Adoption as children of God. An eternal inheritance. Righteous robes of Christ. Salvation.

Our joy is in the Lord. Count your blessings.

Habakkuk commits that in trials, he will turn TO God. Not away from God. Don’t seek joy in movies, video games, scrolling, or stress eating. Seek joy in Christ.

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit’s work in our life
Joy is possible because of God’s work bringing us salvation.

Application – Take joy in this, that your name is written in the Book of Life.

Luke 10:20 – Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

When you are tempted to become gloomy or depressed, count your blessings, starting with salvation.

Review

From the example of David:

• Sin zaps our joy
• Joy is a result (and a cause) of living a God-honoring life

From the example of Paul and Silas:

• Joy comes from living with purpose
• JOY is putting Jesus first, Others Second, and Yourself last

From the example of Habakkuk:

• Joy is not dependent on circumstances
• Joy is a choice
• Joy is based on our relationship with God

Conclusion

What are some things you enjoy?

Here are some things I enjoy.

• A hike in nature with my family.
• Having a date with my wife.
• A smoked BBQ beef brisket made Texas style.

Do you enjoy God?

Most people who pursue joy focus on self in order to get it. Instead of pursuing joy, we should pursue God. We should take our focus off ourselves and put it on God.

In the end, we should enjoy God.

This is not a question we think about often. We think about worshipping God, respecting God, loving God, and obeying God.

But we are also called to enjoy God. The Bible reading plan, family devotions, and going to church are not the end goal. These are meant to bring us to God. We want to see how amazing He is. How beautiful He is. We should enjoy Him.

As we close in prayer, ask that God will help you enjoy Him, live for Him, and fill your life with joy as you do.

Reflection Questions

• What point about joy was most helpful to you and why?
• In what ways do you currently enjoy God in your relationship with Him? What steps can you take to enjoy Him more?