Fruit Of The Spirit (Sermon Blog)
Everyone wants to be happy. We look for happiness in relationships, success, vacations, possessions, experiences, and the hope that the next season of life will finally be easier.
But what if happiness doesn't have to wait until every problem is solved?
What if God can grow joy in us even in the middle of our problems?
As we continue through Galatians 5 and the Fruit of the Spirit, we come to the second fruit Paul mentions: joy. Biblical joy doesn't mean pretending that life is easy or ignoring pain. It means discovering a source of joy that is deeper than our circumstances.
How to Be Happy—God's Way
Happiness is often connected to circumstances.
I'm happy because things are going well.
I'll be happy when I get the raise.
I'll be happy when I meet the right person.
I'll be happy when this difficult season is finally over.
But life doesn't work that way. Like a baseball season, life includes both wins and losses. Even during successful seasons, there will be failures and disappointments along the way.
We can't manufacture lasting happiness, but the Holy Spirit can produce joy in us—even when our circumstances aren't what we want them to be.
So how do we experience joy God's way?
1. Stay Connected to the Source of Joy
The first step is simple but essential:
Stay connected to God.
Pastor Steve put it this way:
“Don't make happiness your God; make God the source of your happiness.”
Jesus said in John 15:4:
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”
A branch doesn't struggle to manufacture fruit. It produces fruit because it stays connected to its source of life.
The same is true for us.
Sometimes we place expectations on people or circumstances that they can never fulfill. We expect a spouse, relationship, career, vacation, or change of circumstances to provide something that ultimately only God can give us.
It's worth asking ourselves:
Am I waiting for everything around me to change before I allow myself to experience joy?
Am I expecting another person to give me what only God can ultimately supply?
Am I developing my relationship with Christ, or am I simply asking Him to improve my circumstances?
Joy begins by remaining connected to Jesus.
Joy Can Exist Even When Problems Remain
Pastor Steve shared about an almost five-year period of his life filled with stress, anxiety, depression, and difficult circumstances.
Eventually, he realized his circumstances weren't changing—but something inside him needed to.
He intentionally leaned back into his relationship with God, and slowly the joy began to return.
The problems didn't immediately disappear.
But joy returned before the problems did.
That's an important truth: God's joy doesn't require a problem-free life.
2. Bring God Into the Places That Threaten Your Joy
Two things that can quickly steal our joy are fear and bitterness.
Instead of trying to manage those things by ourselves, Scripture invites us to bring them directly to God.
Philippians 4:4 says:
“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!”
Paul wrote about joy even though his own life included tremendous suffering, persecution, beatings, and imprisonment.
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison. Yet at midnight, instead of surrendering to despair, they began singing praises to God.
Their circumstances hadn't changed when they started worshiping.
They worshiped in the middle of them.
Bring Your Fear to God
Philippians 4:6–7 tells us:
“Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.”
We often treat prayer like a last resort. We try everything else first, become overwhelmed, and finally decide to pray.
But God invites us to begin there.
Tell God what you need.
Be honest about what you're afraid of.
Thank Him for what He has already done.
Trust Him with what you cannot control.
Prayer doesn't require religious language. Sometimes the most honest prayer we can offer is simply:
“God, help.”
God understands our fear, and He can give us a peace that doesn't always make sense in light of our circumstances.
Bring Your Bitterness to God
Fear isn't the only thing that steals joy. Bitterness can do the same.
Ephesians 4:31 tells us to “get rid of all bitterness.”
Bitterness doesn't remain neatly contained inside us. Eventually, it spills into our relationships and affects the people around us.
Forgiveness means releasing our right to revenge and trusting God with justice.
We can't always choose what happens to us.
But we can bring what happens to us to God.
Whatever hurt, disappointment, or trauma we've experienced, God can meet us there and begin the healing process.
3. Keep God's Future Promises in View
Hebrews 12:2 says of Jesus:
“For the joy set before him he endured the cross.”
Jesus didn't enjoy the cross. It involved unimaginable suffering.
But He could see beyond it.
Beyond the cross was salvation.
Beyond the cross was freedom.
Beyond the cross was hope and joy for countless people.
Sometimes we're walking through a painful season and can't yet see what God may produce on the other side.
That's when we need to keep His future promises in view.
Trials Can Produce Perseverance
James 1:2–4 tells us to consider trials an opportunity for joy because the testing of our faith can produce endurance.
That doesn't mean we celebrate because pain itself is good.
As Pastor Steve put it:
“We don't rejoice because pain is good; we rejoice because God can produce something good in us through it.”
Difficult seasons can:
Strengthen our faith
Develop endurance
Reveal areas where we need to grow
Teach us to depend more deeply on God
Prepare us to handle future challenges differently
Instead of wasting our pain, we can ask:
God, what are You building in me through this?
Sometimes we don't recognize the growth while it's happening. But later, we realize that something that once would have destroyed us no longer has the same power over us.
God has made us stronger.
4. Let God's Joy Strengthen You—and Share It
Nehemiah 8:10 gives us one of the Bible's most familiar statements about joy:
“The joy of the Lord is your strength!”
The context makes those words even more powerful.
Nehemiah and the people had rebuilt Jerusalem's walls after devastation and opposition. When God's Word was read, the people began to weep as they reflected on their past.
But Nehemiah told them it was time to celebrate.
They couldn't change yesterday, but God was rebuilding something.
And they weren't supposed to keep that celebration to themselves. They were instructed to share with those who didn't have enough so they could celebrate too.
God Can Rebuild Your Life
Maybe you look back at your life with regret.
Maybe you wish you could change decisions you've made, relationships you've damaged, opportunities you've missed, or seasons you've wasted.
You can't change yesterday.
But God can rebuild today.
The joy of the Lord isn't a slogan telling exhausted or hurting people that everything is fine. It's an invitation to find renewal through a relationship with God.
Joy gives us strength to move forward.
And as God restores joy in us, we can share that joy with the people around us.
Where Do You Need to Make Room for God's Joy?
Maybe fear has been stealing your joy.
Maybe bitterness has taken root.
Maybe you've been telling yourself you'll finally be happy when your circumstances change.
Or maybe you've simply drifted away from the true source of joy.
The question Pastor Steve leaves us with is:
Where do you need to make room for God's joy in your life today?
You don't have to wait until every problem is solved.
Stay connected to Jesus. Bring Him your fear and bitterness. Keep His promises in view. Let His joy become your strength.
Because lasting joy isn't ultimately found in perfect circumstances.
It's found in God.