I don’t get it. Who is this Joy anyway? Some people live with Joy all their lives. Oh, wait. Those people are also married to someone named Joy….duh! The rest of us just work hard to find it. The apostle Paul tells us joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). So, when trust Christ, we begin the maturity process and start displaying those fruit. Generally, people are not born with joy. In fact, people are born crying. They must learn to experience joy. There are no classes to help people overcome hardships and live with joy. Joy is actually a change in person’s life due to their salvation and subsequent maturity in Christ. I guess the two questions we should all ask ourselves is where do we find our joy, and are we currently experiencing joy in our life situations?
Joy is a great choice
Life is full of choices. We choose to live with joy, despair, or somewhere in the middle. Weddings, funerals, birthdays, and other life events cause us to experience many emotions. While happiness, sadness, and anger are emotions, joy is different. Joy is a state of being and is the result of our maturity in Christ. As we choose to mature in Christ, joy is one result. The joy we choose to experience is an inner peace and definitive satisfaction with our lives as a result of our personal relationship with God. Are you choosing misery or joy?
Joy is an excuse to look beyond our circumstances
Everyone looks for excuses. Usually we look for excuses to keep from attending events we wish we were never invited to attend. Been there and done that! Those excuses are basically lies to give us an out. But, joy is an excuse to look beyond our present circumstances and focus on the one who provides our salvation. All of us experience life. We experience despair, misery, excitement, and fulfillment. Sometimes this comes with our jobs, family, health, or friends. The good news is that now you have an excuse to look beyond your circumstances. God has given us an excuse to refuse to let our circumstances control us. He calls it joy, and He gives it to us as we grow in Him. By the way, how hard is it to look beyond your circumstances and experience joy in the middle of misery? I would say it is pretty difficult. Work hard to find joy in all you do.
Joy is contagious to people around us
I absolutely cannot stand poison ivy. I’m one of those guys who get infected just by looking at the leaves. Maybe that’s you. Not only that, but it spreads like hot syrup on a pancake all over my body. And man does it itch. You know the routine. Finally, I go to the doctor for an injection and things begin to get better. The thing about poison ivy is that it spreads quickly and can spread from person to person. If I have it and touch you, you are likely to get it as well. Then we won’t be friends any longer. You will never talk to me again, and you will never allow me to shake your hand, give you a friendly hug, or even sit by you in a restaurant. Our friendship is OVER. Do you know that joy is just like poison ivy? It is infectious. When you experience true joy in the middle of misery, you influence others who see you go through the tough times. When you trust the Lord during your despair, you can have joy that will infect others. I want to be contagious. Is your joy contagious? If people looked closely at your life would they become infected with your joy?
Joy is healthier than misery
As people mature in Christ, they experience more and more joy. This specific fruit of the Spirit is incredibly revealing. It is not difficult to spot someone who is living in misery. People who fail to experience real joy in their lives generally live without hope, which leads to eventual depression. Are you there? Do things in your life seem without hope? Are you in a constant state of pessimism? Maybe you call yourself a realist. However, a realist is someone who often explains away joy for the sake of their own feelings about a certain issue in their lives. As Christ-followers, we are realists who experience the abundant joy Christ gave us as a result of his death on the cross. We no longer need to live in hopelessness or misery. Christ came to give us abundant joy!
Get out of your misery and enjoy the joy Christ gives you!