Fruits of the spirit: JOY

Joy: Joy is the second fruit. According to the dictionary, joy is an emotion. It's happiness caused by something exceptionally good. Philippians 1:4-5 "In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now" You can feel joy for fellowship with other believers, you can feel joy when you see your child smile at you. It is a feeling of elation. From some of my researching though, I discovered a source that said Joy or "Chara" is derived from the Greek word for "Grace". This brings a whole new meaning to some verses like, Nehemiah 8:10 "The joy of the Lord is your strength". Grace comes only from God so in that mindset joy is something we must ask for and receive from God. It is divine and not a human-based emotion at all. It is perhaps Holy spirit given and flourishes best in hard times. When only God's Grace can save you he sends you joy. Or God is the ultimate giver of joy.
What this means to me is that not only am I to display and feel joy to reflect God's grace but to ask God for his divine joy. So especially if I don't feel joyful, God can give me that. I can ask God for joy that my husband is home at 8:00pm instead of being upset he missed dinner and nearly everything else that went on that day. I can ask God for joy in my heart that my son only had to be asked to get ready for bed twice instead of three times today. I can ask for joy to show my friend, who is having troubles with her car while her husband is far away in Afghanistan and help her to smile in trying times.

I think that joy especially in the face of adversity is a great Christian example to display. I always find that the people that can travel through the most disparaging situations with joy in their heart remind me that I have so much to thank God for. It's a conviction for me because I have a tendency to worry. How good it feels to know I can ask for God to take my worry and replace it with joy, and by his grace I have been saved through faith, not of myself but as a gift from God.


I also feel that of course this means to me there is no true joy without God. If he is the originator and the giver than without him joy would not be possible. That by being close to him, praying, being in his word I can experience his grace and joy which far surpasses anything on earth. If his grace is the only thing that brings true joy than I am even better off for it than I knew before. For how much greater must it be to experience it from the originator? If the movie was good how much better must the book be right?!