“But 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 NIV
Joy is the second fruit mentioned in this verse. At one time, I used to believe that joy and happiness were the same thing. However, over the years I have learned that happiness comes from the situation occurring around you. When the situation you are in is a positive one or something that you desire, then you feel happiness, but that happiness tends to last only as long as the positive situation is occurring.
Joy, however, comes from your internal situation, it doesn’t depend on your external situation. Joy can occur no matter what is happening around you. You choose to have joy in your life, where happiness is a result of something else. When you choose to have joy in your life, then the feelings of contentment and hope often accompany it.
How do we choose to have joy? Everyone has joy inside them, it is up to us to decide whether we will express it or ignore it. We choose joy when we choose to focus on others and on God. Focusing on the many blessings that God has placed in our lives helps us to want to choose joy. We can deepen our joy when we build our personal relationship with God. Being in constant communication with God through prayer and studying His word helps to open the well of joy that we have inside of us.
As we work with God in the growth of all the parts of the Fruit of the Spirit, we tend to notice that each of them have an effect on the others. For example, the more joy you choose to have in your life, the more love you want to show.
Choosing joy is something you have to do on purpose, you need to start each day intentionally choosing to have joy in your life. After a while of doing that, choosing joy can become automatic. So, do you want to be happy, until your external situations are no longer what you want them to be or do you want to choose joy? I believe I would rather choose to have joy then wait for something to happen to me that allows me to be happy.
Where do you stand on the idea of having joy in your life?