The Fruit of the Spirit: Joy

By Robb Brunansky

Published May 1, 2025

We live in a world that is in a constant search for joy. This quest is so important and widespread that researchers often study what makes people happy, or what decreases happiness, identifying how men, women, and children can achieve happiness.

One such study found that there are three significant factors to Americans’ happiness: health, marriage, and money. These results are intriguing for our focus on the joy of the fruit of the Spirit. Yet, Paul says that joy is produced by the Spirit of God – not by your spouse, healthcare or bank statement (Galatians 5:22).

Another survey found that, out of the major religious groups in our world, Christians are the second-least happiest, which is rather stunning. There are several factors that account for this result, including counterfeit joy, misunderstanding of joy, and false conversions. Even in the church, there is a widespread failure to understand true joy.

This failure has many consequences for believers. As Matthew Henry wrote, “Holy joy is the oil to the wheels of our obedience.” A joyless Christian cannot be an obedient Christian. A lack of joy also leads to a lack of power (Nehemiah 8:10). It leads to ineffectiveness, spiritual retreat, and ultimately defeat. Joy, then, is, as C.S. Lewis noted, “the serious business of heaven.” We need a biblical understanding of joy so we might fully rejoice in the Lord.

There are three truths about joy we must acknowledge to have a joy leading to genuine rejoicing, obedience, and spiritual strength.

First, we must understand the meaning of joy.

There are three things joy is not. Joy is not distinct from happiness. It is not based on temporal circumstances, nor is it static. Joy will always be there for the believer, but it is not always there at the same level.

Here’s what joy is, though: joy is an unshakable, dynamic feeling of divine gladness in the Lord produced by the Spirit in all believers.

Joy is unshakable, which means it is always present in the life of a Christian (John 16:22, Colossians 1:24, Philippians 2:17, Philippians 1:18). It cannot be destroyed, lost, or taken away. True joy is solid, lasting, and strong.

Joy is dynamic, which means it changes over time (Philippians 2:2, 1 John 1:4, 1 Thessalonians 3:9). It moves, increases, and decreases. Just because our joy is unshakeable does not mean it is static. Believers are not emotional robots who are always blissful regardless of what is happening in the world or the church. While our joy is unshakeable, and our joy in Christ increases as we grow in grace, we should also experience more joy when others grow; and we should experience sorrow when others reject Christ and His Word.

Joy is an emotion or feeling, which means it is not a pasted-on smile, a spiritual abstraction from reality, or an unemotional theological construct.

Joy is divine gladness, which means it is the happiness of God Himself (1 Thessalonians 1:6, John 15:11, John 17:13). Jesus wants His children to know the kind of joy He has. Christ’s joy is true and pure – not the polluted, counterfeit joy of the world.

Joy is in the Lord, which means the single most important circumstance that impacts our joy is our relationship with Christ (Psalm 37:4, Philippians 4:4). Our joy as believers can never be taken away because nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As Thomas Watson wrote, “There is as much difference between spiritual joys and earthly as between a banquet that is eaten and one that is painted on the wall.”

Second, we should understand the importance of joy.

There are many verses that speak to the importance of joy. God desires us to serve Him with joy (Deuteronomy 28:47-48). Christians should seek this joy that comes from the Spirit, and there are dreadful consequences if we insist on being joyless. God also wants His people to be happy, to rejoice, and to have joy (Philippians 4:4). So many people think of the Lord as the cosmic killjoy – out to ruin their lives with His rules – but that is a demonic lie. God wants us to know perpetual joy.

The joy of the Spirit is not merely the icing on the cake of Christianity. Instead, this divine joy is at the heart of true Christianity. Joyless Christianity is an oxymoron in the New Testament – it doesn’t exist! Believers should seek the joy of the Spirit in our lives.

Third, we must understand the method of joy.

Joy is the fruit of the Spirit, which means we cannot conjure it up on our own. We cannot work ourselves into a joyful state. Joy must come from God. However, this fact does not mean we are helpless in the process of acquiring joy, or we stand idly by, doing nothing. The Spirit does the work, but we also must seek this joy the Spirit alone can give. So, how do we do that?

George Mueller was a remarkable Christian who cared for over 10,000 orphans and established 117 schools, which provided Bible-based education to more than 120,000 children.

Of all the things Mueller is recognized for, though, he is most known for his life of prayer. When asked why he was so effective in prayer and powerful in service to God, Mueller responded, “I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state… I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it.”

Mueller’s secret to a life of joyful service was nothing mystical; it was simple: Read the Word of God and mediate on it each day until your heart rejoices in God. Mueller practiced this devotional habit for over four decades, telling us that joy in the Lord must be renewed day by day, because it is not static, but dynamic. Our joy is affected by spiritual realities. If we don’t have firmly fixed in our minds the greatest of all spiritual realities, which is our union with Christ through faith, our joy will be weak and fragile – and so will our life and service to God.

So, the method of joy – the way we obtain joy – is by spending time in the presence of God. 1 Chronicles 16:27 says, “Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and joy are in His place.”

We expect our problems to be corrected now and stay fixed for a long time in our world. However, true joy in Christ does not work like that of the world. Joy is the fruit of the Spirit. It is an unshakeable, dynamic feeling of divine gladness in the Lord produced by the Spirit in all believers. It comes only when we spend time lingering in the presence of God.

All Christians and churches should be marked by the joy of the Holy Spirit. We should never take our joy for granted, though – nor ever be complacent. Let us make sure the joy we have is joy in the Lord, real joy, and never the counterfeits of the world.