Weapons for the Believer 4.1 – The Fruit of the Spirit - Joy

Weapons for the Believer 4.1 – The Fruit of the Spirit - Joy

According to Paul, there are weapons of warfare.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (ESV)

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

We are considering ten weapons that the Believer has at their disposal. We looked earlier at The Fruit of the Spirit in the post “Weapons for the Believer 4.” If you haven’t read it I encourage you to do so.  Paul gives us two lists in the passage in Galatians.

Galatians 5:19-24 (ESV)

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

I guess the first list could be called the Fruit of the Flesh. We don’t have to work at getting this fruit in our life. We are born with a sin nature because of the fall of Adam. The “fruit” of the flesh is given as “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” That is some list. As a Believer these should become less evident in your life as you grow in your faith, and in the relationship with your Father, God.

These things are to become less evident as the other “fruit” becomes more prevalent. Once the Holy Spirit comes to live inside the Believer, He brings with Him the life-giving ability known as Grace to enable us to begin to bear The Fruit of the Spirit. Last time I asserted that THE Fruit of the Spirit is “love” and the rest of those listed by Paul flow from that. Even if this was Paul’s meaning, I believe it is worth looking at each fruit more closely, for each one has certain benefits and purpose for the Believer.

At the suggestion of my friend, Dale Moore,  I decided to make a similar list for each fruit like I made for Love. Here is the original list using the first fruit, Love, as the focus.

The Fruit of the Spirit is love.

Joy is love’s emotion.

Peace is love’s guide.

Patience is love’s behavior.

Kindness is love’s demeanor.

Goodness is love’s action.

Faithfulness is love’s testimony.

Gentleness is love’s approach.

Self-control is love’s constraint.

Using Joy as the focus let’s see how it is reflected in our experience with the Lord.

            The Fruit of the Spirit is Joy.

Love is joy’s reward.

Peace is joy’s goal.

Patience is joy’s result.

Kindness is joy’s reflection.

Goodness is joy’s substance.

Faithfulness is joy’s honor.

Gentleness is joy’s touch.

Self-control is joy’s play ground.

You see, joy is not an emotion, it is a force. You don’t “work” to gain joy. Joy given by the Spirit of God tempers everything else. Good day or bad day, joy keeps us focused on the real task at hand; not to be “happy”, but to be a light to a dark world. Joy keeps us on offense, pursuing the Kingdom of God, bringing it here to earth. Joy gives us glimpses of the “now and the not yet” as John described it.

1 John 3:2 (ESV)

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Living the life of the Believer brings joy. However, seeing Jesus, the One who provided joy for us in the first place, will be “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

1 Peter 1:8 (ESV)

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

Imagine joy that cannot be expressed! That is the joy brought into our life by the presence of the Holy Spirit. When you allow the Holy Spirit to change you into the likeness of Jesus, joy will come. Embrace it. Allow it to define you.