1 minute, 50 seconds
My college degrees were in Athletic Training and Fitness. Early in my career, I taped a lot of football players’ ankles, and over the last two and a half decades, I’ve trained many clients as a personal trainer. I particularly remember one client—a fifty-year-old librarian—who told me when we first met that she had never, ever exercised. But she told me, rather enthusiastically, that she had read lots of books about health and fitness!
My new client had head knowledge about exercise and its benefits. She was convinced healthy eating was good and necessary for her. However, the truth was that she was not benefiting practically from exercise and good nutrition.
I think the same can be true about joy. We can read about joy, listen to talks about joy, believe we need to be more joyful, but unless we understand joy as a fruit of God’s Spirit and, like my librarian-client, get really practical and make it applicable, it won’t transform our lives into more joy-filled living.
What IS joy?
The original Greek word for joy in the Bible is chara. It encompasses a deep, inner sense of gladness—a lasting sense of delight that can exist even in difficult situations. It is different from fleeting happiness that is dependent on circumstances.
I love this description of joy:
Joy is a settled disposition rather than a momentary emotion.
Galatians 5:22 tells us that joy is a fruit of the Spirit, so these three things are true about joy:
Joy is produced, not manufactured. The Holy Spirit grows this fruit in us; we don’t generate it through effort or willpower. Essentially, we need to abide, to stay connected to the vine (John 15).
Joy is supernatural. Joy can coexist with sorrow, endure persecution, and remain during trials. It’s not dependent on circumstances because its source is the Spirit, not our situation.
Joy grows over time. (I’m thankful for this!) The fruit metaphor implies development, maturation, and seasons. Joy isn’t instant. It ripens as we walk with the Lord.
One of my favorite authors, Jean Fleming, said that who we are at 40 is who we’ll be at 80—distilled. If you are in your 20s, 30s, 50s, or 80s, age doesn’t matter. If you struggle with negativity, complaining, or simply joyless living, and you don’t, by God’s grace, make a course adjustment, those patterns will only intensify!
It’s important to remember that we can’t manufacture joy through the right techniques; rather, we can learn to cultivate what the Spirit is already growing in us.
In a workshop talk I’m giving next month in St. Paul, MN, I’ll share what to pack in your spiritual backpack to cultivate joy for this journey called life. We’ll consider five essentials that, by His power, God can use as transforming agents to fill your heart and life with joy.
If you live nearby, I hope to see you there!
(Save $20 by using code: CALLED26JILL)
If you can’t make it to the conference, I wouldn’t dream of leaving you wondering what five things you need to cultivate joy in your life! I’ll share them with you in an upcoming email.
Let’s pack our joy backpacks together!