Lately I have been studying James 1:2 – 4 and was thinking about the joy we are supposed to have when going through trials. My study took me first to John 15:9 – 11, where we learn that joy is related to remaining in his love by obeying his commandments. John 16:24 adds that joy is related to making a request. Before coming to China, this time, I asked my Father to develop humility, meekness, and gentleness in me and I have noticed that as this is happening, greater joy is a result. Galatians 5:22 tells us that joy is related to the Holy Spirit.
As I looked at Galatians 5:22, I noticed the wording; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love,” which was then followed by the eight words, “joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” For some reason I could not let go of the idea that “the fruit of the Spirit is love” should stand by its self as a complete thought. The fruit is love and the other eight words describe that fruit. I decided to go to net.bible.org and see if they had a note on it and to my surprise I found a note that said, “Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.” God is love and thus the fruit of the Spirit would be love and is manifested through the eight characteristics. Seeing love described this way also fits with 1 Cor. 13:4 – 7.
There are two other comments I would like to make in relationship to joy. I asked my class what the difference was between happiness and joy. I knew one of my students had an idea by the expression on her face and then she said, “Happiness is related to the face and joy to the heart. When external things are enjoyable, your face has a smile on it, but joy is not dependent on external things, but what is in the heart and that is God’s love.” I thought the idea of this relationship to face and heart was worth repeating.
Another thing worth mentioning is what I found when I did a translation comparison of 1 Peter 1:6. This verse was chosen to provide some additional information on trials when we are to experience joy. To make my point I will choose NASB and NLT translations. “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials” NASB. “So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while” NLT. The NASB translation implies that you can experience joy as you go through a trial. You don’t have to look far to find other Scripture to support this. The NLT translation seems to take the position of a believer who is not continuing in His love by obeying His commandments and thus is not experiencing much joy in this life by saying that we will experience joy at a later time. If believers would stop being so friendly with the world and love Jesus Christ as they should, maybe they would find that joy is indeed an aspect of God’s love and is not dependent on external happenings.
As I looked at Galatians 5:22, I noticed the wording; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love,” which was then followed by the eight words, “joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” For some reason I could not let go of the idea that “the fruit of the Spirit is love” should stand by its self as a complete thought. The fruit is love and the other eight words describe that fruit. I decided to go to net.bible.org and see if they had a note on it and to my surprise I found a note that said, “Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.” God is love and thus the fruit of the Spirit would be love and is manifested through the eight characteristics. Seeing love described this way also fits with 1 Cor. 13:4 – 7.
There are two other comments I would like to make in relationship to joy. I asked my class what the difference was between happiness and joy. I knew one of my students had an idea by the expression on her face and then she said, “Happiness is related to the face and joy to the heart. When external things are enjoyable, your face has a smile on it, but joy is not dependent on external things, but what is in the heart and that is God’s love.” I thought the idea of this relationship to face and heart was worth repeating.
Another thing worth mentioning is what I found when I did a translation comparison of 1 Peter 1:6. This verse was chosen to provide some additional information on trials when we are to experience joy. To make my point I will choose NASB and NLT translations. “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials” NASB. “So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while” NLT. The NASB translation implies that you can experience joy as you go through a trial. You don’t have to look far to find other Scripture to support this. The NLT translation seems to take the position of a believer who is not continuing in His love by obeying His commandments and thus is not experiencing much joy in this life by saying that we will experience joy at a later time. If believers would stop being so friendly with the world and love Jesus Christ as they should, maybe they would find that joy is indeed an aspect of God’s love and is not dependent on external happenings.
