Hello Everyone,
As we read the nine
characteristics the apostle Paul listed of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.
We find JOY was placed second in the
qualities that contain the harvest
of the Spirit.
Joy is found right in
the middle of Love and Peace.
One writer said this, "The fact that joy (chara)
comes second in the list shows the prominent place that it had in the thought
of the Apostle Paul with regard to the Christian personality."
We saw in First
Corinthians 13 that love (agape) is essential for the gifts of
the Spirit to function properly. And in Galatians 5, love comes first among the
aspects of the fruit of the Spirit.
We have discussed that
Fruit is a product of growth.
Love grows. Joy grows. Peace grows. (How
is your CROP?)
The Holy Spirit energizes this growth
process in the lives of Christians.
The word joy (chara) also means gladness
or happiness.
A similar word is rejoice (chairo),
which also means to be glad.
The word joy has the meaning of "intense
happiness or great delight, that which gives rise to this emotion or on which
the emotion centers, the outward expression of the emotion."
The theme of the
epistle of Galatians is Christian freedom.
Regardless of the circumstances
of life, believers should be able to rejoice
or have joy in the freedom
that is in Jesus Christ.
·
This Joy is a kind of fruit that needs careful cultivation.
·
This Joy is "feeling what you believe."
·
This Joy rests on knowledge, faith, and hope.
·
This Joy is something to be expected and experienced.
·
This Joy involves the total of our being, not
simply knowing or having. “In Him we live and move and have our very
being”
Greater Things Are Still To Come
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