Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Last year, I saw the following phrase posted on Facebook, sent through text message, posted on the wall at the church, and spoken with an encouraging tongue:
I choose joy.
This is a decision that we have to make every morning. Because of our fallen condition, true joy does not come naturally. We try to fill the void with all kinds of addictions and bad habits. We try to find it in sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll. We try to find it by giving ourselves to our career. We try to find it by joining the gym or remodeling the house. We try to find it by having children. We try all sorts of things to find true joy and contentment in our lives but nothing seems to work. There is a good reason for this:
True joy is not something that we are able to claim outside of a personal relationship with Jesus.
Wikipedia (Teachers, calm down. You don’t have to grade this!) states the following about joy:
The Greek word for 'joy' is chara, derived from the word charis, which is the Greek word for 'grace.' This is significant to note, for chara is produced by the charis of God. This means 'joy' is not a human-based happiness that comes and goes but, rather, true 'joy' is divine in its origin. It is a Spirit-given expression that flourishes best in hard times. For example, in 1 Thessalonians 1:6, the Thessalonians were under great stress due to persecution; yet in the midst of it all, they continued to experience great joy. The Greek strongly implies that their supernatural joy was due to the Holy Spirit working in them. Paul even called it the "joy of the Holy Ghost".
We may have a few hours go our way today. We might get that raise or that promotion. Lunch may be extraordinary. You might reconnect with an old friend. You might win a free drink at Sonic. There are many things that could happen today that will bring about a momentary relief from the heaviness that is life but it is only through giving our lives wholly and completely to Jesus Christ that we will experience a true joy that not only surpasses the momentary relief we have been conditioned to seek but also lasts forever.
Jesus Christ is our only hope and it is only by living to please him that a fruit such as joy can grow in our lives.
I challenge you to choose joy by choosing Jesus today. Say it out loud: I choose Jesus.
True joy is now yours to claim. It’s now up to us to share it.
Choose joy.
