Fruitful Living
The fruit of joy
But the fruit of the Spirit is joy – Galatians 5:22
INTRODUCTION
As those who have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour, our harvest is to consist of many tasty clusters of the fruit of the Spirit, comprising nine essential components, including JOY. The fruit of Joy is one that the world is missing, hence the increased importance of bearing this much-needed fruit to fill the gaping void.
“A merry heart,” the experience of inner peace and happiness, is what joy is all about. This inner disposition and outlook on life, this true joy, promotes health and well-being, or as the Bible says it, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” – Nehemiah 8:10. This is why Solomon said, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken” – Proverbs 15:13.
The existence of a day-to-day positive attitude will produce joy. This joy will accompany us wherever we go in life, on whatever mission God gives us to achieve.
1. JOY AND OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST
Our joy is uncontainable when we think about the great gifts of God in Christ. We delve deeply into a relationship with Christ and the intimacy is glorious. But intimacy-physical or spiritual-is the language of two, and it cannot really be communicated to a group. Our personal worship will, from time to time, provide us with such a warm camaraderie that we will feel at a loss to define it. We are to declare our joy – our praises for Him who saved us and called us into service. Salvation is our pedigree, joy our vocation.
2. JOY, THE REVEALING OF ANGELS
Joy is a close relative of self-control. It is the automatic response of heaven every time we stand true in the midst of any trial. God is looking for those who can stand up in a moral onslaught and keep the faith. When we prove ourselves true, heaven takes an interest in our character. Listen carefully after you have stood for truth, and you will hear the fluttering of angel wings. Joy is heaven’s response to godly courage.
3. JOY, THE REWARD OF ENDURANCE
Courage often precedes joy. The great celebration of Esther 8 follows on the heels of Esther’s courage. In Esther 4:16, Esther sends words to her cousin Mordecai and says, “I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” She acted in a spirit of courage because she knew that what she was about to do was right. The cost to her personally was not as great a concern to her as her obedience to principle. Esther is a model for all those who cherish truth. What is the result of such determination? For us, it is the inner joy that wells up when we know we have chosen to live for Christ.
4. JOY AND MY SERVICE TO OTHERS
It is impossible to witness the salvation of God and not experience joy. Joy is not just something we give to God to keep Him happy with our positive attitude. Joy is the way we minister to others. When we are face-to-face with the presence of God, with God’s work in our lives, we respond with joy. And in the process, we lead others to joy in God as well. Our joy should be contagious.
Joy erupts from all who observe the victories of God. When John Newton saw all that God was doing in his life, he sang:
Amazing grace!
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
5. JOY AND ITS PLACE IN OUR PERSONAL WORSHIP
Joy and pain are both elements of focus in our worship. Pain creates a need for God, and joy is the footprint of His presence in our lives. Joy is the business of heaven. In Luke 15 it is the recovery of something that was lost that brings about that joy. A lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son are all found once again. Joy is inevitably the result of the lost being found. It always sets the angels singing, and it works that same kind of wonder here on earth.
6. JOY THE INFALLIBLE PROOF OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD
Hard times come, but these are the times that really instruct. Hard times are the classrooms of the school of life. Look at what our joy teaches others when God is our sole sufficiency. Those who have little are really those who have much and are filled with praise even in times of difficulties as we read in Habakkuk 3:17-18:
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.
As good Christians we also need to sing in times of failure. JOY is not dependent on the sumptuousness of our circumstances but on the richness of Him who orders all our lives. When God is present in our lives, we show our joy to others, no matter what our situation in life is.
7. THE JOY OF CREATIVITY
Our world brims with the creative touch of God. He created everything from nothing and brought about the very foundations of the earth. When God finished each and every day of creation, He remarked that it was good. When we stop and survey His created order, we can only exalt in His work and cry, “It is good!”. In light of His grand design, our purpose is to do His work and our response is to live in joy.
CONCLUSION
Joy is more than happiness. It is the inward gladness of heart that comes from knowing and experiencing the presence and perspective of God. This means knowing that God lives in us and is able to keep what we have entrusted to Him, never minding what we are experiencing outwardly. Psalm 46; Neh. 8:10; 2 Tim.1:12 all talk about this kind of inward gladness. This is why Paul will ask us to rejoice in all circumstances and turn whatever problems we have to God in Phil.4:7. Joy is God’s presence within, expressing His character outwardly.
Fanny Crosby, the 19th Century blind and prolific hymn writer gives us a good summary of how to preserve our joy in her classical hymn, Always Cheerful.
- Let our hearts be always cheerful, Why should murmuring enter there?
When our kind and loving Father Makes us children of his care.
Refrain: Always cheerful, always cheerful Sunshine all around we see;
Full of beauty is the path of duty, Cheerful we may always be.
- With his gentle hand to lead us, Should the powers of sin avail,
He has promised grace to help us; Never can his promise fail.
- When we turn aside from duty, Comes the pain of doing wrong;
And a shadow, creeping o’er us, Checks the rapture of our song.
- Oh, the good are always happy, And their path is ever bright;
Let us heed the blessed counsel, Shun the wrong and love the right.
Culled from the Fruit of the Spirit Bible.
Dr Joyce Aryee, the author
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4. Correct the falsehood
If someone misrepresents Muhammad (pbuh), teach people who Muhammad (pbuh) really was.
Tell them about his mercy.
Tell them about his justice.
Tell them about his patience.
Tell them about his forgiveness.
5. Report genuine offences
Use lawful channels.
The Muslim does not become the police, prosecutor, judge and executioner.
6. Protect the innocent
If one Christian insults Islam, do not attack another Christian who knows nothing about it.
If one Muslim makes an offensive statement, do not blame all Muslims.
7. Restore peace
After the controversy, bring responsible Muslim and Christian leaders together.
Talk.
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Clarify.
Forgive where forgiveness is appropriate.
And rebuild trust.
Ghana must not become a battlefield of religious provocation
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam,
Let us look around Ghana.
Muslims and Christians have lived together for generations.
We have Muslim fathers with Christian in-laws.
Christian mothers with Muslim sons-in-law.
Muslim and Christian business partners.
Muslim and Christian neighbours.
Muslim and Christian classmates.
Muslims and Christians serving together in the military, police, public service, universities, hospitals, markets and businesses.
This is Ghana.
We must protect this peace.
Religious freedom is precious.
But religious freedom comes with religious responsibility.
A microphone is not a weapon.
A pulpit is not a battlefield.
A smartphone is not a licence to spread hatred.
A viral video is not a fatwa (religious decree).
And anger is not evidence.
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A word to Muslim scholars
To my fellow Imams and Islamic scholars:
Allah has placed a trust upon our shoulders. You are the best of generations selected for the guidance of mankind. Quran chapter 3:110.
When people are angry, we must calm them.
When people are confused, we must educate them.
When people want revenge, we must teach justice.
When people want violence, we must remind them of Allah.
Our microphone should extinguish fire—not pour petrol upon it.
The Prophet said:ِ
لَيْس َ الشَّدِيد ُ بِالصُّرَعَةِ، إِنَّمَا الشَّدِيد ُ الَّذِي يَمْلِك ُ نَفْسَه ُ عِنْد َ الْغَضَب
“The strong man is not the one who can overpower others; rather, the strong man is the one who controls himself when angry.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 6114; Sahih Muslim, 2609)
This is strength.
Self-control is strength.
Restraint is strength.
Wisdom is strength.
Justice is strength.
A word to Christian preachers
And to our Christian brothers and sisters, especially those who preach:
We Muslims deeply revere Jesus (peace be upon him)
He is not an ordinary man in Islam.
He is ʿĪsā ibn Maryam عليه السالم, a mighty Messenger of Allah.
The author is the Chief Imam of Katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governance Expert.
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When Paul tells us that our “attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus,” he had summarized in the previous two verses what such an attitude was: selflessness, humility, and service. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” – Philippians 2:3-4.
In other words, the attitude a Christian should reflect is one that focuses on the needs and interests of others. Without question, that does not come naturally to us. When Christ came into the world, He established a whole new attitude to relationships with others. One day when His disciples were arguing among themselves regarding who was to be greatest in His kingdom, Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.
Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” – Matthew 20:25-28. Jesus is teaching us that, when we become preoccupied with our own things, it can cause conflicts and other problems with people we know. Instead, God wants us to have an attitude of serious, caring involvement in the concerns of others.
Paul speaks more about this Christ-like attitude in his letter to the church in Ephesus: “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.– Ephesians 4:22-24. Many religions of today, including the New Age philosophies, promote the old lie that we are divine or that we can become gods. But the truth of the matter is that we will never become God, or even a god. Satan’s oldest lie was promising Adam and Eve that, if they followed his advice, “- and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5, NKJV.
Each time we try to control our circumstances, our future, and the people around us, we’re only demonstrating that we want to be a god. But we must understand that, as creatures, we will never be the Creator. God doesn’t want us to try to become gods. Instead, He wants us to become like Him, taking on His values, His attitudes, and His character. We are meant to “be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” – Ephesians 4:23-24.
Finally, we must always keep in mind that God’s ultimate goal for His children is not our comfort, but the transformation of our minds into the attitude of godliness. He wants us to grow spiritually, to become like Christ. This doesn’t mean losing our personalities or becoming mindless clones. Christlikeness is all about transforming our minds. Again, Paul tells us, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” – Romans 12:2.
It is God’s will that we develop the kind of mindset described in the Beatitudes of Jesus – Matthew 5:1-12, that we exhibit the fruit of the Spirit – Galatians 5:22-23, that we emulate the principles in Paul’s great chapter on love – 1 Corinthians 13, and that we strive to pattern our lives after Peter’s characteristics of an effective and productive life – 2 Peter 1:5-8.
Establishing our actions in righteousness
Every person is commanded to live up to divine standards.
a. In the words of Jesus
“ For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father, who is in heaven, is perfect” – Mt. 5:20, 48.
Every person in the world is required to live up to that standard. You say, “You’ve got to be kidding!” No, I’m not. You are obligated to live up to that standard with a pure inside as well as a right outside. But you say, “I can’t!” You are absolutely right. That’s why we are given the solution…
b. In the words of Paul
As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;– Rom. 3:10, 21-22a.
Though you can’t obtain on your own the righteous standard Christ set, you can receive His righteousness if you are one of those who believe. Isn’t that great? God set the holy standard. And when you acknowledge that you can’t live up to it, He says, “My Son is not only the Lawgiver, but He is the Redeemer as well, who makes it possible for you to live on that level.” Beloved, it’s a fantastic thing! The standard is so high we can’t obtain it. But Christ met that standard and imputes to us His righteousness. Oh, what a blessed thing!
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