But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
We continue our Friday Fruit series today with… joy.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice.”(Philippians 4:4)
Joy is about faith, and finding God in all circumstances. So that our joy and attitude can be governed not by what is happening to us, but by the fact the God is with us in these happenings.
How do we develop Joy as a Spiritual Fruit?
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
This is not just an instruction to be joyful, but an indication of how joy can be achieved.
We can be joyful by:
- Praying continually
- Giving thanks in all circumstances. (Not FOR the circumstance, but giving thanks DESPITE the circumstance)
If we are faced with circumstances where our first response is not joy, then our first response needs to be to bring it to the Lord (in prayer). Then we need to give thanks for God’s provision, and the fact that He will be with us.
If we can learn to always bring everything to God, and look for the opportunities for thanksgiving, then we will learn to find joy, even in the worst circumstance.
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I thought I would wait to see where you were going with this before commenting. I do agree that we ought to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. Obviously we can only exhibit something if it is in us and to the extent that it exists in us. To just exhibit without these characteristics actually resident in us is nothing short of hypocrisy. However, I don't think that we can develop the fruit of the Spirit. Fruit is not something that the tree develops, it's something that just happens as a result of it being a tree. The tree does not have to work or strain to make fruit-it just happens as a result of what type of tree it is. And as you noticed, it is not the fruits of the Spirit, but the fruit (singular) of the Spirit, which speaks of all the characteristics of love, joy, peace...as one which comes included in the Spirit. And while we cannot develop or have by our own initiative, the fruit of Spirit, we can get more of the Spirit which will increase the amount of fruit we exhibit in our lives. And just as you have so correctly pointed out that we are commanded to posses and exhibit fruit characteristics we cannot do any of it unless we have also obeyed the commandment that says to "be filled with the Spirit." As we are filled more and more, then more and more the fruit will be evident in our lives. So I said all this to simplify the process. We do not need to seek more love, more joy, more peace...etc. We just need to seek God for more of His Spirit and allow Him to displace our flesh and fill us with more of Himself. I have some ideas about how to do that, but I may be crossing denominational lines with my suggestion. :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Fruit needs to come from the Spirit, and needs to be grown by the Spirit.
ReplyDeleteBut I also think we are called to "grow" the fruit in our lives, often by being put in a position to do the opposite. I don't think we can grow joy in our own strenght, but I think we can grow it by seeking it out in all circumstances.