10 December 2015

Fruit of the Spirit 2; Joy - By Jack Lewis



What makes a joyful person? It is a question that doesn’t get asked much, and in my opinion doesn’t get asked often enough. Is a joyful person someone who has just won the lottery, bought a mansion and a new £150,000 car? Is it even someone who is enjoying the best time of their life, and touring the world? No; these things can make someone happy, but not joyful. While at first glance joy and happiness seem very similar, there is a big difference when we look closely. For starters, happiness is temporary, joy is lasting. Happiness can be affected by the circumstances, joy can’t. A joyful person is not someone who is enjoying a good life; it is someone who rejoices in all circumstances. One thing that almost all the great men and women of God had was joy. Paul and Silas showed true joy, not when they were having a nice, comfortable preaching tour, but when they were in prison (And the prison back then would have been like cold, damp sewers, not the kind of prison you would find today.) Many great missionaries were living in dire circumstances, maybe even in prison, but they still managed to rejoice for what God was doing; it’s obviously something that is part of true godliness; after all the word joy is mentioned 214 times in the Bible. Finally, joy doesn’t come from the nice things in life, the only true source of joy is, Jesus. (Rather obvious that’s what I was going to say!)  I will probably write this at the end of every post in the “Fruits of the Spirits” series, but do ask God to give you joy; it’s a fruit of the spirit, and one of the key things to becoming a good example of Christ.