Choosing Joy
God has called us to live differently — to live set apart.
In Galatians 5, we are given a picture of what a life led by the Holy Spirit looks like. These are
not personality traits. They are not things we manufacture on our own. They are evidence of the
Holy Spirit living and working inside of us.
But walking in the Spirit is not passive. It is something we choose daily as we surrender our
flesh, our emotions, and our circumstances to Christ.
Each week, we will focus on one Fruit of the Spirit and what it looks like to live it out in our
everyday lives — in our marriages, in our families, and in the world around us.
This week, we are focusing on Joy.
James 1:2–3
As I began reflecting on the Fruit of the Spirit — Joy — I heard something on the radio that I
have heard many times before, but this time it landed differently.
An artist was talking about a song he wrote about joy. He said it was birthed from the realization
that the enemy cannot give us joy — and therefore does not have the power to take our joy away.
That made me pause.
So often I hear people say the enemy has robbed them of their joy… that they feel numb… that
they cannot seem to find happiness. But in that moment, something shifted in my heart.
While the enemy cannot give us joy or take it away, he will absolutely try to influence our
surroundings. He will do his best to get us to focus on hurt, pain, disappointment, and fear —
hoping we will stop choosing joy, even when joy is still available to us through Christ.
Because here is the truth:
Joy is a choice.
The same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in me. Through the Holy Spirit, I have the
power to choose joy — even when everything around me is screaming for me to bury my head in
my pillow and focus only on the hurt and pain.
It is my choice.
James 1:2–3 reminds us:
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the
testing of your faith produces steadfastness."
Notice it says count it as joy.
That means we are actively choosing how we see our circumstances. This does not mean we ignore pain. It does not mean we pretend everything is okay. It means we trust that God is still working — even here, even now. We can have joy in the middle of heartbreak.
We can have joy in seasons of waiting. We can have joy in trials because our hope is not tied to our circumstances — it is tied to Christ. Walking in the Fruit of the Spirit is not about perfection.
It is about daily surrender. It is about daily choosing to look more like Jesus.
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