THE FRUIT OF JOY

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,^G5479 peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

One evidence of being in relationship with Jesus, thus filled with the Holy Spirit, is the presence of joy. How is joy defined?

Joy – a delight of the mind, from the consideration of the present or assured approaching possession of good

The American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828.

Joy is not an emotion determined by circumstances. Joy is a gift from God Himself that is eternal. This gift of unquenchable, unconquerable joy stays dormant until and unless a person receives salvation through Jesus Christ. In believing that Jesus is the Son of God who died to pay the debt of our sin and was then raised to life by God, we receive the Holy Spirit and the joy of the Lord. Fruit takes time to be cultivated. On the TV show “The Waltons,” there was an episode in which Cousin Zadok had cultivated an apple tree that produces more than one type of apple. We are a tree bearing several types of fruit—Christlike attributes. We do not instantaneously exhibit all the character qualities listed here. But the Father begins nurturing them as soon as we come to Christ. Fruit trees have to have water, sunlight, the right soil conditions, and proper pruning to bear the best fruit. We need to be watered with the word of God, bask in the Sonlight of Jesus, plant ourselves in a church that nourishes us, and allow God to prune away anything that would distract us from producing the Fruit of the Spirt.

Do you see these attributes, the Fruit of the Spirit in the verses above, growing in your own life, and can you spot them in others? Water your life, your fruit tree, with the word of God. Remain in the Light, Jesus.  Plant yourself in a Bible teaching church family to be nourished. Be sensitive to the Father’s pruning of habits and activities that draw you away from Him instead closer to Him. Pray to bear good fruit. Stay plugged into the vine, Jesus, for apart from Him you cannot bear fruit.

Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:4-5

Father, please continue to cultivate the Fruit of the Spirit in us as we study Your word and rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance.