Month: May 2020

The Fruit of Patience

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“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

– Romans 8:22-25 (NIV)

“Hope that is seen is no hope at all” – We can’t hope in what we can see. We hope in what we cannot see. We hope in what is yet to come. And because we hope, we wait. We wait patiently. We wait confidently. The word patiently in Romans 8:25 can also be translated as to wait eagerly, or to expect fully. When you are waiting eagerly for something, or fully expecting something to happen, what do you do? You prepare for it.

Think about a child on Christmas Eve. They’ll set out the cookies and milk out for Santa. They’ll brush their teeth and put on their pajamas. They’ll go through the bedtime routine more willingly than any other night of the year. Even though their excitement level is enough to keep them up all night, they know they have to go to sleep in order for Santa to show up. They expect it. They’re eager for it to happen – so they prepare for it.

Think about someone getting ready for a date, or preparing for an interview. Up until the moment they’re walking up to the door, or when they’re inside waiting for the person to arrive, or waiting outside the office door – they’re preparing. They’re going over what they’re going to say, checking their hair and make-up in the mirror, adjusting their clothes, looking back over their resume one more time. They’re getting ready. They’re preparing. Maybe they’re excited, maybe they’re nervous, or maybe it’s a combination of both – but they’re feeling all the feelings because they’re eager. They’re expectant. They know what’s coming next, so they’re getting ready for it.

But what about when the thing we’re waiting on isn’t so positive? What if we aren’t so eager, but afraid of what’s coming next. Patience can also be translated as long-suffering. How do you exercise patience in those moments? What if you’re broken down on the side of the road? You’re waiting for someone to come help jump start your car or change your tire. You’re impatient because you’re ready for it to be fixed. You’re impatient because you’re ready to be back on the road and headed to your destination. You’re worried about how much it may cost. What if you’re waiting in a hospital waiting room? Hospital waiting rooms are a scary place to be. You never know what’s going on with the person next to you. One family may be excitedly welcoming a new life into the world, while the other may be preparing to say their goodbyes to the one they love. Maybe you’re hoping for good news – desperately hoping and praying to hear that everything is going to be okay. But you don’t know for sure. The future seems so very shaky, and so very unknown. Sometimes it feels like that strand of hope is slipping through your hands. How can you hold on to hope? How can you wait well in those moments? The first thing to do is to realize you aren’t alone. There is a Great Physician sitting right beside you, holding your hand. He is our anchor of hope and peace in the midst of fear and uncertainty. He is with you, cling to Him. If there are others around you, friends and family, cling to them. If not, find someone to talk to or simply to sit with –  A pastor. A counselor. A support group. Know that you are not alone. Look for the good, and focus on it. Even when everything around you seems to be going wrong, there is always something to be thankful for. Find that thing, and fix your eyes on it. There is purpose in this time of fear and frustration. Look for that purpose. Fill your time of waiting with prayer, and worship, and service.

We often think of patience as being something that is passive. We think of it as if there is nothing we can do but sit around and wait for it to happen – but that’s not the case. Patience is active. Waiting is an act of service. Think about servers in restaurants – they are called “waiters” and “waitresses” but they aren’t sitting around passively. They’re actively attending to the needs of the restaurant patrons. They’re on the move – constantly going from table to table, asking how things are going, refilling glasses, and taking orders. That’s how our spiritual waiting should be. Patience is difficult when we’re sitting around watching the clock and counting down the time – but it goes by more quickly when our waiting is active.

There is a song by John Waller called While I’m Waiting and in the song he says, “I’m waiting on You, Lord. And I am hopeful. I’m waiting on You, Lord. Though it is painful. But patiently, I will wait. I will move ahead, bold and confident, taking every step in obedience. While I’m waiting, I will serve You. While I’m waiting, I will worship. While I’m waiting, I will not faint. I’ll be running the race, even while I wait.” We can serve Him and worship Him while we wait. We can continue moving forward with boldness and confidence. In fact, Hebrews 12:1 tells us to “run with patience the race that is set before us” (KJV). It seems odd to run with patience. If you’re running, you’re usually in a hurry to get somewhere or you want to finish the race with the fastest time, but a true runner knows that running is about pacing yourself. Slow and steady wins the race – isn’t that what we learned from the story of the tortoise and the hare?

Slowing Down

There is a challenge going around on social media right now called the “candy challenge” – and in this challenge parents sit a bowl of candy out in front of their young kids. They have a hidden camera in front of them and they tell them not to eat the candy until they get back. Then they leave the room. The kids are eager to eat the candy. Many of them immediately stick their hand in and grab a piece. Some of them lick it, smell it, touch it to their tongue – they get as close as they possibly can to eating it. Many of them resist, but it’s not easy. Why do we struggle so much with being patient? We often resist patience because we’re so excited about what’s to come – We’re so excited that we want it right now, but we need to learn to shift our mindset. If those kids would only think – “When mom comes back I get to have this candy!” then the waiting period would be a lot more enjoyable. But instead, all they could think was, “This candy is sitting in front of me right now and I can’t eat it!” They were more focused on the fact that they couldn’t have it right now, instead of the fact that they could have it as soon as their parents returned. That’s often where the root of our impatience lies – We want immediate results and instant gratification.

Our culture values speed. Technological advances are all about saving time. The printing press. The assembly line. The car. The train. The plane. The telephone. The cellphone. The computer. The internet. The microwave. They all have allowed us quicker ways to communicate, to travel, to produce and manufacture goods, to prepare food, to access information. We now have an encyclopedia of news and information right at our fingertips. Literally. We can have anything we want delivered to our front door in a matter of hours. Even our Bible studies and devotionals are often labeled based on the amount of time it will take us to complete it –  “The 1-Minute Bible” or the “The 5-Minute Bible Study.” There are get rich quick schemes, and weight loss programs that try to guarantee you the weight will fall off in 30-days or less. There are apps to help you find love with the swipe of your finger. There are life hack videos and meal prep videos. They all want to save us time, but what are we doing with all this saved time? It almost seems as if we actually ended up with less time than before.

Waiting involves slowing down, and we don’t want to slow down. We want to speed up. We’re constantly in a hurry. We want to do more. We want to accomplish more. We value productivity. We want to do as much as possible, in as little time as possible. That’s why we get irritated when we have to wait in long lines at the store or when the car in front of us doesn’t immediately press on the gas as soon as the light turns green. We get impatient in long lines at amusement parks, in traffic on the way home from work, and when we’re on hold over the phone with a bill collector. We’re in a global pandemic right now, that almost feels as if our whole lives have been put on pause. We don’t know what to do with it, because it is so counter-cultural.

We want quick fixes. We want all our problems solved in as little time as possible, so we grow impatient the longer we have to wait. We become irritated when we’re forced to slow down. But it’s important for us to remember that spiritual growth takes time. James 5:7 says, “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.” Planting takes time. Farming takes time. Harvesting takes time. Sometimes droughts come. Sometimes we have to till up the ground and start again. How does it impact our spirituality when we live in a culture of drive-thru’s, curbside pick-up’s, and next-day delivery – but serve a God who operates as a patient Farmer? What happens when we pray and God doesn’t immediately answer our prayer? We start to lose faith. We start to lose hope. Even in worship services – We grow impatient if we don’t feel like we’re getting something out of it. In our minds, we’re thinking about what we’re going to have for lunch or what chores we need to be doing at home. We open up our Bibles and skim the pages, but how often do we take the time to read, reflect, and respond to the words? How often do we just sit in the silence and listen for God to speak? In Life on the Vine, Phillip Kenneson writes, “Perhaps our fixation with productivity instills in us a deep sense of impatience that might partly be responsible for our lack of joy in worship. How can we joyfully engage in worship if we are continually mindful of all the other more productive things we could be doing with our time.” It’s a dangerous place to be spiritually. It is counter-productive to our spiritual growth. We need to go against the grain of our society. We need to be more like Jesus.

Like Jesus

When we look at the life of Jesus, we see that He was never in a hurry. He allowed Himself to be interrupted. When the woman with the issue of blood touched His garment, He felt it, and He turned around and made notice of her faith. When a father came asking for a miracle for his daughter who had died, Jesus got up from His teaching and went and followed the man (Matthew 9:18-26). When the disciples saw children coming to Jesus as a distraction and tried to rebuke them, Jesus welcomed them and blessed them and told them the Kingdom of God belonged to them (Mark 10:13-16). When Jesus went to the well for water, He didn’t turn around and leave as soon as He got the water, but instead He sat down and talked with the woman He saw there (John 4). Jesus lived in the moment and was attentive to the needs of those around him. He welcomed distractions. He used interruptions to build relationships, bring healing, and bring salvation.

Like all other Fruits of the Spirit, patience is a characteristic of God. God is love (1 John 4:8) and love is patient (1 Corinthians 13:4). He is slow to anger (Psalm 103:8). As Christians, as followers of Jesus, we should strive to demonstrate this same loving patience and slowness to become angry. James 1:19-20 says, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” It’s important to realize that scripture does not say God did not become angry; it says He was slow to become angry. There is a such thing as righteous anger. In John 2:13-22 we see Jesus making a whip and driving people out of the Temple who were there selling cattle, sheep, and doves. Then in Matthew 21:12-17 we see Him flipping tables in the Temple when He sees the same thing happening again. In Life on the Vine, Phillip Kenneson writes, “God’s patience does have a purpose; it is not simply restraint for the sake of restraint. God is slow to anger, but God does get angry. God bears with people for a long time, but a time of judgement is coming.”

Bearing with someone is a form of patience. Praise God He bears with us. Praise God He is slow to anger, and quick to forgive. Let us imitate His love. Let us imitate His patience. Let us imitate His mercy. Colossians 3:12-14 says, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” In Ephesians 4:1-3, Paul says, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” When we are patient with others, we are showing the love of God. When we are patient with others, we are striving for peace. And it isn’t easy; it takes effort. But it is worth it. And love makes it possible.

We can’t take God’s kindness and mercy for granted. We can’t take His patience for granted. It is purposeful. It leads to repentance. Romans 2:2-4 says, “Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” What kind of example are we setting if we return to the sin which God so mercifully freed us and forgave us? We cannot grow weary in doing good. Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” When asked how often we should forgive someone who wronged us, Jesus responded, “…not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” That requires an immense amount of patience. But it is possible. We can forgive others because He first forgave us. We can be patient with others because He is patient with us. In 1 Timothy 1:16, Paul says, “But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.” Let us be an example of God’s love and patience.

In the words of Paul, I pray this prayer:

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.”

– Colossians 1:9-11

 

 

The Fruit of Peace

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What is peace?

Peace is often defined as the absence of conflict or the end of war, but in Scripture, peace is often synonymous with wholeness or salvation. For example, Isaiah 52:7 says, “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good new of happiness, who announces salvation…” The Gospel is good news of peace. In the Armor of God passage of Scripture in Ephesians 6, verse 15 tells us to shod our feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace.

I find it interesting that in both of these passages of Scripture, peace is correlated with our feet. Often, we think of peace as being associated with our mind and the way we think, but it is more so about our lifestyle and the way we walk out our faith. Isaiah 59:8 says, “They do not know the way of peace, and there is no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, whoever treads on them does not know peace.” Romans 3:17 also refers to a “path of peace” and in Luke 1:79 Zechariah prophesied that Salvation would come “… to guide our feet in the way of peace.”

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for peace is “Shalom” which means completeness in number, safety or soundness in body, welfare, health, and prosperity. Shalom means peace, quiet, tranquility, and contentment. As Phillip Kenneson writes in Life on the Vine, shalom “refers to the state of well-being, wholeness, and harmony that infuses all of one’s relationships. Such a view of peace is inherently social; to be at peace only with oneself is not to experience shalom in all its fullness.”

We need people. We need community to experience true peace. Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” This is a difficult task for us to work towards when we live in a society that is so individualistic and divisive.

We live in an electronic age that allows us to hide behind a screen. We can type out hurtful words and press the send button, knowing we would never actually say those words aloud if we were face to face with the person on the other end. We can’t see the impact of our words, so we can’t see the harm being done. With these technological advances, we can create an image of the person we want others to see us as online. We only post the pictures we want them to see, and only share the stories we want them to hear. Meanwhile, we are completely alone, completely anonymous, and completely void of true connection. Without true connection, how can we know true peace?

Even outside of technology, we’re still divided. The media has divided us. Marketing has divided us. Politics have divided us. Greed has divided us. Pride has divided us. The love of money and the desire for power has divided us. As Phillip Kenneson writes, “Politics no longer involves the search for the common good, but a competition between warring factions, each bent on securing or protecting its own interests. All of this contributes to the further fragmentation of our lives, both as individuals and as a society.” The world sees no gray area, no middle ground, no sense of nuance. Only right and wrong. Only us against them. And this leaves little room for peace. We are taught to think one way, and we rarely see both sides of the story. We rarely listen to people with different worldviews and different life experiences than our own. When we’re so focused on ourselves, we start to lose sight of the bigger picture. When we never lift up our eyes to see what’s going on in the world around us, then we eventually end up tripping over own feet as we journey on the path to peace.

In Life on the Vine, Kenneson describes how our fragmented lives have created a barrier to peace. He says, “trying to embody such integrity (that is, a fully integrated life) is difficult in a society that cultivates fragmentation rather than wholeness or shalom.” What does it mean for us to live fragmented lives? Think about this: Is who you are when you’re at home different from who you are when you’re out in public? The way we talk and interact with our neighbors and the people we live around may be different from how we talk and interact with those we work with, and the person we portray ourselves to be at church may be different from the person we portray ourselves to be with our friends and family. Does that sound familiar? Isn’t it exhausting? No wonder it’s so hard for us to be at peace with ourselves and with other people. How do we know which one is the real us? How do we know what our real convictions are verses the opinions that we’ve formed based on other people’s opinions? Each group of people we surround ourselves with have different expectations of us, so we shape and mold ourselves to fit into the image of who they want us to be. We are far too concerned about what other people think about us, and the truth is, no one really cares about the image we’re portraying because they’re too concerned with their own image.

Even our Christianity has become individualized. We call it a “personal” relationship with Jesus. We choose our churches based on what’s convenient for us and what’s most beneficial for us. We complain about church when we don’t “get something out of it.” We leave a church when they didn’t reach out to us, or when they did or did not do this for us. We make it about ourselves, but the church doesn’t exist for us. The church exists to glorify God and make His Name known. The church exists for the community. The church exists to make disciples, to care for the orphans, the widows, and the least of these. We are part of a body of Christ, and peace is found when we are all working together in harmony towards one purpose. Peace is found when we use all of our differing spiritual gifts to spread the Gospel of Peace – the Good News of a Savior who unites both Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. Peace is found when we lay down our pride. Peace is found when we shift our focus from ourselves and start putting the focus on serving and honoring God with every breath that He graciously gives to us.

Peace is a gift.

In John 14:27 Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

If peace is a gift, then what does that tell us about peace? That tells us it can’t be bought, and it can’t be earned. It must be received. If you want to receive peace, you have to open your hands to accept it. You have to surrender. You have to let go of control. You have to let go of pride, and selfishness. You have to let go fear, anxiety, and insecurity. You have to trust the Giver of the gift. You have to trust that He is the Giver of good gifts. You have to trust His intentions, trust His plan, and trust His purpose. You have to trust that He gives out of the abounding love He has for us. He does not intend to harm us, but is working all things together for good.

Peace is freely given to us. And that’s great news! Who doesn’t love a good gift?! But in this particular passage of Scripture we can’t be so quick to focus on the peace that we neglect to consider the words that came before the gift of peace:

“I am leaving you…”

Suddenly that peace doesn’t seem like such a great gift – because Jesus didn’t just give it, He left it. Jesus spoke these words to His disciples on the night of the Last Supper, the night before His death. Jesus was warning His disciples about what was to come, and in leaving them with the gift of peace, He was leaving them with a gift they didn’t even know they needed yet. They didn’t understand. They couldn’t comprehend. Jesus had shifted their world upside down, and they could never have imagined a world without Him in it. They could never have imagined the horrors He would face on the cross. They could never have imagined that He was going to die and rise again. They could never have imagined the persecution and martyrdom they themselves would face as His followers. And Jesus knew that. Jesus knows our hearts. He knows our limited understanding. He is compassionate. He is merciful. He is gracious. In verse 29 He says, “I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.”

Peace is a promise.

Last week, when we talked about joy, we talked about its connection with sorrow. This week, we see that peace is closely connected with fear and anxiety. Jesus knew that because He experienced our humanity. In Him, we find faith to face our fears. Jesus gave the gift of peace before the promise of pain was fulfilled because He knew it was coming. He equips us for every trial we will ever face. He does not leave us alone. With the gift of peace, comes the gift of His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our Peace. And Jesus said “It’s better that I go so the Holy Spirit can come” (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit is our Comforter. He is our Helper. He is our Advocate. “These things I have told you,” Jesus says in John 13:33, “so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus tells us that His gift of peace is not the same peace that the world offers. The world offers a fake peace, a counterfeit peace. The peace that the world offers only provides a temporary fix; it puts a band-aid over the gaping wound of sin in our lives. The peace the world offers just wants us to forget our troubles or mask our troubles. There’s no promise to remember. The peace the world offers is found in money and possession, in lustfulness and addiction, in likes and attention. The peace of this world is found when we blend in with this world, but the peace of God is found when we stand out from this world. The peace of God is found only in Jesus. The peace of God is found when we praise Him even in the midst of the storm. The peace of God is when we smile, even when our hearts are heavy and burdened. The peace of God is found when we surrender fully to Him, even when our minds are filled with fear and anxiety. There is a song called Peace by Hillsong Young & Free and the words say, “You will stay true, even when the lies come. Your word remains truth, even when my thoughts don’t line up. I will stand tall on each promise you made… Dare anxiety come, I’ll remember that peace is promise you keep.” We find the promise of peace in the words of Jesus. Countless times throughout John 13-16 we see Jesus start a statement with the phrase “These things I have spoken to you…” or “This I have told you…”  In John 16:33 He says, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.” His words hold the gift of peace, and we find peace when we call those words to remembrance.

In Hebrews 10:32-35, Paul writes:

“But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”

If peace is a promise Jesus spoke to us, then we can trust He will provide peace for us. We can trust His Word because He is faithful to fulfill all that He has promised. Jesus does not just speak truth, Jesus is truth. Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Peace is not a place we go to, it’s a person we run to. The Prince of Peace is the One walking with us through all of our trials. The Prince of Peace is the One in the boat with us in the midst of the storm. When He speaks, the winds and waves cease. His presence is all the peace we need. So why do we fear? We often fear because we do not trust Him. When Jesus calmed the storm for His disciples, He asked them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Fear is the opposite of faith. Do you know what command is given more often than any other command in Scripture? Do not fear. I’ve heard it said that the command is given 365 times throughout Scripture – once for every day of the year. We constantly need to be reminded not to fear. We constantly need to be reminded to trust Jesus to be our Peace and to speak Peace into our lives. Peace is not the absence of conflict – We will face troubles in this life. We will face times of fear and uncertainty – but peace is an anchor in the midst of the storm. Peace is calmness even in the midst of the chaos. Peace is the ability to find harmony even with those who are different from us – even when the world is doing everything it can to try and divide us. When we live at peace, we live in the confidence that Jesus is exactly who He says He is and that He will do exactly what He says He will do. Peace is a way of life. Psalm 34:14 says, “Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.” We should always be seeking peace with ourselves, peace with each other, and peace with God. We pursue peace when we pursue Jesus. As long as we are seeking after Jesus, then we are seeking after peace!

The Fruit of Joy

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Joyful

“This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

– Psalm 118:24

What is the source of your joy? What brings you joy? What makes you glad and brings you good cheer? Is it a person who gives you joy – Someone who’s smile brightens your day? Someone you enjoy spending time with and always look forward to seeing? Or is it an activity you enjoy doing – maybe a sport or hobby that you could do for hours and never get tired of, something you plan your days and weekends around and always make time for in your schedule? Or maybe it’s a place you enjoy going to – a certain spot of your house you’ve claimed as your own that always calms you and puts you at ease? Maybe a favorite vacation spot that holds a lot of precious memories for you and your family?

Once you’ve identified what brings you joy, the next question to ask yourself is – how do you know it brings you joy? What does joy look like? What does it feel like? How do you express joy? How do you experience joy? Do you leap and dance with joy? Do you rejoice with songs of praise? Or does your joy look more like quiet confidence and a simple smile, or maybe even a burst of laughter?

Spiritually speaking, joy is often the result of spending time in fellowship with God. Psalm 16:11 says, “…In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” Spiritually speaking, God is not only the source of our joy, but He is also the object of our joy. Psalm 4:7 tells us He has put joy and gladness in our hearts, and in Psalm 51:12 David pleads with God to “restore to me the joy of your salvation.” Psalm 35:9 says, “My soul shall rejoice in the Lord; it shall exult in His salvation.”

The Joy of Salvation

This connection between joy and salvation is no mistake. The Greek word for joy is “chairo” which is very similar to the Greek word “charis” which means grace. Grace is defined as the unmerited favor of God, and grace is the reason we can experience true and lasting joy. In the book Life on the Vine, Phillip Kenneson describes the similarity between these two words by saying, “…both imply the activity of freely taking delight in something or someone beyond one’s self.” Throughout Scripture we see joy expressed as a response to salvation. In the Old Testament, we see joy expressed as a response to delivery from exile (Isaiah 35:10, 52:9, 62:5, 65:17-19, Zephaniah 3:17). We even see in these passages that God also rejoices over us. He takes delight in us. He rejoices over us with singing. How encouraging to know that God rejoices over us like a proud parent! Is there something that once had you enslaved? If you’ve found freedom, or if you’re on your way to freedom – know that God is rejoicing in this freedom with you! He does not rebuke us, but rejoices over us. In the New Testament, we see joy expressed as a response to being healed physically (Luke 13:13, 17:15, Acts 3:8, 8:8) and as response to spiritual conversion (Acts 8:39, 15:3, 16:34, John 4:36). We also see joy expressed as a result of fellowship with other believers (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, 3:9, Philippians 4:1, Romans 15:32, 2 Timothy 1:4, and Philemon 1:7). Paul often told the churches he wrote to that he longed to see them because of the joy they brought him. There is joy in community. There is joy in gathering together with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And finally, we also see joy expressed as a response to the hope of resurrection. In Luke 24:40-41 Jesus shows the disciples His hands and His feet after appearing to them after the resurrection. But Scripture says, “they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement.” I find it interesting in this verse that they could not believe because of their joy. It’s almost as if Luke is telling us – they couldn’t believe because it was too good to be true. Has your joy ever kept you from believing something to be true? In this passage, after Jesus ascends to Heaven, verse 52 says, “And they, after worshipping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” The Gospel is good news of great joy. The Gospel goes forth because of our overwhelming sense of joy that we can’t help but share with others!

But there are also obstacles to joy. What are some things that stand in your way and keep you from experiencing joy?

The Obstacles of Joy

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” How often do we compare ourselves to others? I should be further along in my life, I should have accomplished more, I should be married, I should have children, I should have more money, more possessions, less financial strain, less emotional struggle, I should look this way or I should look that way. Do any of those statements sound familiar? The culture we live in today, all the advertising and all the social media feeds – they are constantly asking us to compare ourselves to others. We are always desiring more, always desiring new, always desiring better. We are rarely content with our life exactly as it is. We can never be content or full of joy when we can’t seem to see beyond ourselves to the bigger work God is doing. We can’t rejoice in the Lord today and embrace His presence today if we are constantly filled with worry and anxiety about what tomorrow will bring. We’re afraid of being different, afraid of going against the grain, so we do everything we can to try to fit in and blend in – but there is no joy in a life that is not authentic to who God created you to be. There is no joy in living a life that is outside of alignment with and the plan and purpose God designed you to fulfill.

The Relationship Between Joy and Sorrow

In addition to the relationship between joy and salvation, there is also a relationship between joy and sorrow. Have you ever seen the movie Inside Out? It’s a children’s cartoon that is based on five of the primary emotions and how they guide our thoughts and actions. It gives lifelike characteristics to these emotions, with the primary character being Joy – and Joy is who we always want in control. Joy is the one who gives us all of our happiest memories. But there’s another character – Sadness. And throughout the movie, no one wants sadness in control of anything. Everything she touches turns sad and gloomy. But at the end of the movie, we learn the importance of sadness. We learn that we need sadness in order to experience joy. When we are sad, the people we love come to comfort us and cheer us up. They strive to make sure we feel seen, heard, and cared for. Some of our most joyful memories are preceded by moments of grief and sorrow, because it’s in times of sorrow that we seek that comfort and belonging. We wouldn’t know the fullness of joy if we hadn’t first known the fullness of sorrow. And we see this correlation in Scripture as well.

Psalm 30:5 says, “…Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.”

Psalm 126: 5 says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.”

In Luke 6:22-23, Jesus says, “Blessed are you when men hate you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven…”

In Acts 5:40-41, the apostles were flogged and ordered not to speak the name of Jesus, but when they were released they went on their way “…rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” And Scripture says they went on teaching and preaching the name of Jesus Christ.

In Acts 16:25, Paul and Silas were imprisoned, and yet they were praying and singing hymns of praise to God! Joy is not bound by our physical circumstances. The joy of the Lord is a joy that endures even when the circumstances around us are telling us to be sorrowful and discouraged.

In Colossians 1:24 Paul writes, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake…”

In 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7, Paul encourages the church at Thessalonica by reminding them they “…received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” They were joyful, despite the persecution they had endured. And they became an example to all the believers.

James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

1 Peter 4:13 says, “…But to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

Joy is able to endure through trial and sorrow because it is different than happiness or pleasure. Joy goes deeper. Joy is more eternal. The object of our delight is different with joy. As Phillip Kenneson writes, the level of our delight “will differ to the extent that we are drawn out of ourselves.” He goes on to say, “The more we are drawn out of ourselves, the more we likely characterize our delight as joy rather than simply pleasure.” Joy reaches beyond ourselves and beyond our own fears and insecurities. True joy is rooted in the deep and abiding love of Christ. It is rooted in the hope He offers.

How Can We Cultivate Joy in Our Lives?

Joy is often found in the most simple things. Do you remember the “Chewbacca Mom” video? It was a video that went viral on Facebook Live a few years ago. In the video, Candace Payne, a mom of two, spontaneously purchased a Chewbacca mask at a Kohl’s, and couldn’t wait to get home and try it out in front of her kids, so she sat in her car and tried it on for all of friends and family on Facebook. She then proceeded to laugh hysterically at herself wearing the mask, and the Chewbacca sounds coming from the mask only intensified the laughter. Her laughter was contagious. Hundreds of thousands saw the video, joined in her laughter, and shared it with their friends and family. Candace ended the video, weak from laughter, with the phrase, “It’s the simple joys, ya’ll!” That video created a ripple effect of joy across the world. And in the days and weeks that followed, Candace gained a platform on which to share the source of her joy. Because her joy is a joy that comes from the Lord. She is now a Christian speaker, author, and podcast host – and God used a Chewbacca mask to make it happen. She lived in the moment, embraced a moment of joy, and is still feeling the effects of it to this day. That’s the power of joy.

When the seeds of joy have been planted and cared for, they multiple and bring forth more fruit. So how can we cultivate and grow the fruit of joy in our lives?

We cultivate joy through worship and thanksgiving.

Make a list of things that bring you joy. Keep a gratitude journal. It’s something so simple that changes your perspective and shifts your focus to things above. When we realize how much we have to be thankful for, we can’t help but worship and praise the God who is the creator and giver of goodness.

Psalm 63:5-7 says, “My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.”

Even in the shadow there is something to be thankful for. There is a reason to rejoice, if only because we are close to the Father and safe under His wings.

Psalm 66:1-2 says, “Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious.”

Worship Him with songs of thanksgiving. Worship Him with songs of praise. Worship Him with shouts of joy.

Psalm 68:3-4 says, “But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; Yes, let them rejoice with gladness. Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts, whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him.”

Psalm 84:1-2 says, “How lovely are Your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.”

In 2 Samuel 6:12-22 David expressed His joyful gratitude to God in the form of leaping and dancing. When the ark of the covenant was brought to Jerusalem, Scripture says David was “…dancing before the Lord with all his might” (v. 14). He was “leaping and dancing before the Lord” (v. 16). And when Saul’s daughter saw it and spoke against this “undignified” display of leaping and dancing, David responded by reminding her that He was chosen and appointed by God. “Therefore,” he says, “I will celebrate before the Lord” (v. 21).

We cultivate joy through traditions.

Holidays are Holy Days. Culture. History. Stories. Songs. Feasting. Fellowship. These are all things that bring us joy. These are all things that are found throughout Scripture. These are all things that God gave priority to in Scripture. The Gospel was passed down through the sharing of stories. Jesus celebrated the tradition of Passover by sitting around a table and breaking bread with His disciples. Sabbath rest – one day each week of ceasing from work – is a commandment of God. What are some traditions in your life that bring you joy? If you don’t have any traditions in your life right now that bring you joy, start your own traditions. Create regular rhythms and routines in your life around the things that bring you joy and point you to Christ.

We cultivate joy by spending time with children.

Children are a source of joy because they are full of joy, and joy is contagious. Children see the world differently than we do. They find joy in simple things, things that we would normally overlook and not give a second thought to. Maybe you don’t have children of your own, but you can visit with your friends and family who have children. You can offer to babysit for them. You can volunteer at school events and church events. When we surround ourselves with childlike faith and joyfulness, it bolsters our own faith and fills us with joy.

What are some other ways you can cultivate joy in your life?

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Producing Spiritual Fruits

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

– Galatians 5:22-23 NASB

What does it mean to be a Christian? Have you ever met someone and without the name of Jesus ever coming up… something in your spirit told you they were followers of Jesus? What was different about them? What gave you that feeling?

What if you flip it around…

Have you ever met someone who said they were a Christian, but something about it didn’t sit right in your spirit? What threw you off? What was the red flag?

It’s the fruit we produce that tells people we’re followers of Jesus. When our lives are firmly planted in who Jesus is, our lives will bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

When the members of Westboro Baptist Church are standing outside of funerals with signs telling people God hates them…. there is no fruit of love being displayed. There is no Jesus being displayed.

And what if you flip that one around too…

Think about prosperity preachers who never preach against sinfulness. They tell people God will richly bless and heal them if only they give financially or “sow a seed” into their ministries… Is that real love if it’s not the truth? And if it doesn’t bear the fruit of real love, is it truly rooted in Jesus?

Matthew 7:18 says, “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.” Our fruits reveal what’s within us. Whatever you’ve been planting in private will come to fruition in public. That’s why it’s so important to practice spiritual disciplines. That’s why it’s so important to practice our spiritual gifts. That’s how we produce spiritual fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That’s how people see Jesus in us. That’s how they know we are followers of Him, and that’s what makes them want put down their nets and start following after Him too.

From the Beginning

The first mention of fruit in the Bible occurs in the very beginning. In Genesis 1:11 God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them.” And it was so. And it was good. When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them every plant yielding seed and every fruit. Everything they needed, He gave them. And He gave them one simple instruction, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). All but one. Everything they needed to live, they had. But they wanted the one thing that would ensure their certain death. Sin entered the picture in the form of a forbidden fruit.

Did you know that before there was man to cultivate the earth, it never rained? Instead, a mist would rise from the earth and water the ground (Genesis 2:5). All the pain and toil that goes into producing a harvest now? That was a result of the fall. That was a result of sin. “…Cursed is the ground because of you,” God said to Adam. “In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken” (Genesis 3:17-19). I think about our society today – the ability to walk into a grocery store and choose whatever food you want off the shelves without having to labor in a field from dawn to dusk for that food – we start to take for granted all the work that goes into producing the food we eat. We start to forget that there is a price for our sin.

We were made in the image of God. But because of sin, we’ve been separated from Him. Without Jesus, our lives will only ever produce bad fruit. Or plastic fruit that looks good on the outside, but when you bite into there’s nothing there. There’s no nutritional value. It’s an imitation. But the closer we grow to Jesus, the more rooted in Him we are, the more we start to look Him. The more we start to act like Him and talk like Him. That’s when our lives start to produce real, lasting fruit.

Fruit trees are found all throughout Scripture, but another prominent place we see them is in the Promised Land. When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, and on the days when they were so miserable they were looking back with longing on their days of slavery – it was the image God gave them of the promised land He was leading them to that kept them pressing forward. It was a land flowing with milk and honey, but it was also a land filled with vineyards, and olive groves, and an abundance of fruit trees (Deuteronomy 8:5-10, Leviticus 25:18-19, Nehemiah 9:23-25).

Throughout scripture, fruit trees are known to be symbolic for fertility. When God created and Adam and Eve, He told them to “be fruitful and multiple” (Genesis 1:28). When God promised the Israelites a land or pomegranate and fig trees, He was promising them seeds – generations, a lineage, a future. Spiritually speaking, when our lives produce fruit – there is within that fruit more seeds, and those seeds are capable of producing more fruit. The goal of discipleship is to make more disciples. When Jesus left this earth and ascended into Heaven, the commission He gave to us was to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:18-19). In other words, “Be fruitful and multiply.”

In Due Season

My aunt and uncle live next door to me and have garden in their backyard. I see them outside working in their garden all the time. This weekend I was providing respite care for a 5-year old little boy and we went over to their yard to play on the swing-set while they were working in the garden. When he saw the garden, he asked my aunt if she had a particular kind of fruit in her garden. “No, I don’t have that one” she responded, “They’re not in season right now.”

And something about that spoke to me. There are certain fruits that taste better in certain seasons, because those fruits grow better in certain seasons. It’s easy to look at the list of spiritual fruits and get discouraged. I may be loving and kind to my neighbors… but self-control? and patience? Those don’t seem to be in season for me right now. Those fruits have a bitter taste, if they’ve even been produced at all. Can you relate? Are there certain spiritual fruits that if someone asked you, “Do you have any gentleness in that garden?” Could you say yes? Or would you have to say, “Ehhh… that one’s not quite in season yet.” That’s okay. We are human. These fruits will have their seasons in our lives. They will come and go with the seasons. They will look and taste better in certain seasons of our lives. But if you recognize where there’s a need… start planting, start preparing the ground. That’s the first step.

“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”

– Galatians 6:9 NASB

In Full Control

There is so much that goes into planting and harvesting a garden. My aunt and uncle are working in their garden 24/7 it seems. In season. Out of season. Early mornings. Late evenings. Weekends. Week days. From tilling the ground and planting the seeds to picking the fruit, cleaning it, and canning it. It takes so much time, and so much effort.

In addition to the physical effort, takes an emotional toil as well. I see the concern on their faces when there is mention of an “early frost” – it’s not ready yet. It’s not time. The fruit won’t survive the bitter cold. I’ve seen their heartache when their peach tree literally produced so much fruit that they couldn’t pick it fast enough and it became so full and heavy that it broke the tree in half. Or what about those summer months when the ground is especially dry and the rains are few and far between?

That’s the thing about growing fruit – there is so much that is beyond your control. In the book Life on the Vine: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Christian Community, Phillip D. Kenneson writes,

“There is so much for the farmer to do, but the farmer cannot make the seed sprout, the sun shine, or the rain fall. In fact, it is only because the farmer trusts that these good gifts will continue to be given that the challenging and risk-filled enterprise of farming is undertaken at all. Grace and effort, gift and work: these must be held together… The wisdom of the farmer reminds us that both are required, in full measure, in order to grow anything worth harvesting.”

Producing spiritual fruit requires trust. It requires a faith in what we cannot see to produce a future we cannot predict. Surrendering to God’s control and watching what He does when the work of your hands meets the grip of His grace is a beautiful sight to behold. First Corinthians 3:7 says, “…Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but it is God who causes the growth” and Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

In the Weeds

Producing fruit requires faith, but it requires faith with action. If you just plant a seed and then sit back and wait for God to work His magic without ever getting out in the garden and doing the required work… then what’s going to happen? Your garden will start to produce weeds. If you don’t attend to the weeds, they will grow up and overtake anything and everything that you had previously planted. Phillip Kenneson writes, “As a child I always wondered why the tomatoes, green beans, and corn always had a much harder time making it than the weeds. If you wanted the vegetables to grow and yield produce, you had to work hard to help them. If you wanted the weeds to take over your garden, you didn’t have to do anything but stand back and watch.”

I’ve been so guilty of this time and time and time again in my spiritual life. You start a regular routine of prayer and study and other spiritual disciplines for a few weeks, and then something happens that throws you off your schedule and all of a sudden you start making excuses. I’ll wait and do it tomorrow. I’ll just do this one thing and then I’ll get back to it. And before you know it, those sprouts of spiritual fruits you once started to see peaking through are now withering beneath a patch of weeds. The enemy will get in anyway he can. He will find any opportunity to get in and destroy what God is trying to produce within you. Don’t let him in. Don’t let him try to gain a foothold. Stand watch. Stand guard. And when you have to, pull out the shovel, dig down deep and get to the root of whatever is trying to destroy your harvest. Repent and turn away from your sins. Dust yourself off and start again. The beauty of grace is that we serve a God of second chances. His mercy is new every morning.

Abiding in Love

 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

– John 15:1-5 NASB

The first fruit of the Spirit is Love. I don’t think the fruits are listed in order of importance, but I do think it’s important to note that love is listed is first. After all, God is love (1 John 4:7-16) – so love is the best way for us to show others we are followers of Him!

We can’t fully give love if we haven’t fully accepted how loved we are. We must receive the gift of God’s love in order to give it out to others. Once we begin abiding in the love of God and allowing it to transform us, it will overwhelm us and it will begin bubbling out in everything we say and everything we do.

How can we know if the fruit of love is being displayed in our lives? One technique I’ve seen used is to read through 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and everywhere you see the word “love” – replace it with your name.

Karis is patient? Karis is kind? Karis is not jealous? Karis does not brag? Karis is not arrogant? Karis does not act unbecomingly? Karis does not seek her own? Karis is not provoked? Karis does not taken into account a wrong suffered? Karis does not rejoice in unrighteousness? Karis rejoices in truth? Karis bears all things? Karis hopes all things? Karis endures all things?

When you come up on one that doesn’t ring true, and you feel that ting of conviction in your heart – that’s an area for improvement. We will never check every box on love – that’s an impossible measure to live by, and that’s exactly why we need Jesus. But it should be our aim to be as much like Jesus as humanly possible. All that love is, God is. So the more characteristics of love we have, the more characteristics of Jesus we have. That’s what being a Christian is all about. If they don’t see our love, then they don’t see our Jesus.

Love is the greatest commandment. In 1 Corinthians 13:13 Paul wrote, “Now faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is love.” When Jesus was asked which commandment was the greatest, He responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

“Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.”

– Mother Theresa

A prayer for you…

“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience.”

– Colossians 1:9-11 NASB