Finding Joy in Life
Galatians 5:22-23
Dr. Marty Baker
www.stevenscreek.net
June 30, 2002
This week our nation will be celebrating Independence Day. On July 4, 1776, a group of 56 patriots banded together and adopted the Declaration of Independence on. They penned these words:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Ever since then, we have been on a national quest to find happiness. Where do you find happiness? Or better yet, what does it take to make you happy?
Psychology Today once polled 52,000 Americans and asked them what happiness meant to them. For some, happiness was simply paying the bills, finding a mate, having children, raising a family, having a good job, financial security, or good health. What about you?
Most people consider happiness to be having the right circumstances develop in your life. Did you know that the word happiness comes from the old English word happ, which literally means “chance.” It corresponds to the Latin fortuna, which means “luck.” These words suggest that if things happen the way we want them to happen, then we are happy. But if they do not happen the way we want, we are unhappy.
This past week I discovered what most of you already know, “When Moma ain’t happy, nobody is happy.” On Monday, my wife Patty had a dress show in Atlanta and I had the kids. I thought, “what can we do that we normally do not get to do.” The thought hit me, "It’s peach season. Let’s head across the river and load up on some South Carolina peaches."
Edgefield County is the peach capital of the world. It produces more peaches than any other county in America. We embarked on a journey to Peach Paradise. We ended up at one of the packaging plants in Johnston. We watched the peaches as they traveled down the conveyer belts through quality control and ultimately into boxes to be shipped across the country. The workers on the assembly line separated the prime peaches from the blemished and overripe peaches. They took the bad ones and placed them in a water flume that carried them to another part of the plant. Thousands of peaches go through this flume every hour.
After watching this process, we were given a five gallon paint bucket and instructed to kneel down by the flume and fill it up overripe or blemished peaches. We were on a mission. Each one of us had our own bucket and we went to work. We filled each bucket until it overflowed with peaches. In fact, in one bucket I had 97 peaches. Do the math: 97 peaches times four buckets. Yes, we carried home close to four hundred peaches. We paid the cashier; loaded up the car and ate peaches all the way home. We continued eating peaches all afternoon and did not put a dent into our supply.
When Patty got home, the sink was filled with peaches, the kitchen counters were filled with peaches; the refrigerator was filled with peaches and Patty was filled with anxiety. She was not happy with the peach parade. She said, “Marty, what are you going to do with all these peaches?”
I usually have answers to her questions, but at that moment I realized that whatever explanation that I could give would not be sufficient to explain why we have almost four hundred peaches. All I could say was “We could give them away.” Her response was, “When?” At that moment I knew that “Moma wasn’t happy with our field trip and if Moma ain’t happy, nobody is happy.”
There several things about happiness that I was reminded of this week. Happiness is external. It depends on what happens to us. It focuses on our outward circumstances. Happiness is based on chance. If you are lucky, you can find happiness.
This morning I want to talk about something much better than happiness, and that is, joy. The Bible says that we can have joy.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Last week we began our summer series entitled, "Being the Best That You Can Be". This is a series based on Galatians 5:22-23 which is commonly called the fruit of the spirit. These nine fruit are character qualities that will enlarge our lives and open us up to a new way of living.
Last week, we focused on Becoming a Loving Person, today I want to concentrate on Finding Joy in Life. I believe that joy is an inner power that allows us to have a good attitude even when things are not going our way.
Patty was not happy when we destroyed her clean kitchen, but she did not allow those peaches to steal her joy. Joy is an attitude. It is internal, not external. Joy depends on inward character. It comes from within and it is a choice that we make. It is characterized by peace even in the midst of life’s uncertainties. It is an understanding that everything will work out for good for those who put their hope in Christ. We can choose to be joyful regardless of our circumstances. Joy is an attitude that allows you to see beyond the particular event and see God’s power at work in your life. Joy provides people with spiritual strength. It gives us strength to persevere even under the worst circumstances. The Old Testament teaches us that ...
Nehemiah 8:10
... the joy of the LORD is your strength."
The Bible has a lot to say about joy. In fact, the Bible uses the words joy and joyful over two hundred and fifty times. The word rejoice appears 200 times. How do you find joy? Let’s talk about it.
How to Find Joy
1. Establish a personal relationship with God.
A personal relationship with God begins in acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. When Jesus was born in the manager on the first Christmas morning, the angel said,
Luke 2:8-10
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
The joyous news was a savior has been born. You and I need a savior. Why? Because God has created a standard to live by and we have ignored His plan and chosen to live according to our own desires. When we live outside of God’s boundaries, the Bible calls it sin. Our sin separates us from God.
Jesus Christ came to save us from our sin. When He enters into our heart, He cleans us from inside out. Jesus removes our sin and provides us with a new way of living. It is a life complete with joy. Listen to the words of John found in the New Testament.
John 15:9-11
9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
If you are looking for joy in your life, you will find it in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He will connect you with presence of God. He will lead you, guide you, and fill you with heavenly pleasures.
Psalm 16:11
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
When you connect with God, He fills you with inexpressible joy. He releases His power in you and places you on a path to become the person that you were meant to be. Not only that, but He welcomes you into His family where you are love, accepted and forgiven.
In fact, when you accept Christ in your life, all of Heaven rejoices in your decision.
Luke 15:10
In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
This past Wednesday Stevens Creek threw a party. It was a great celebration. We celebrated because twenty-nine people declared their faith in Jesus Christ as they were baptized. Their lives have been changed because these individuals have trusted Jesus Christ to forgive them of their sins.
Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Have you been baptized? In a few minutes, I am going to give you an opportunity to have your sins forgiven, your guilt removed and your life infused with joy.
How do we find joy in our lives? First of all, we establish a relationship with God. But, that’s not all. Secondly, we cultivate a grateful heart.
2. Be a grateful person rather than a grumbling person.
Gratitude is often the missing link in the chain that releases joy into your everyday living.
Ÿ Gratitude means appreciating what you have, not yearning for what you don’t have.
Gratitude is being thankful to God for all that we’ve been given instead of complaining about what you are missing. Grumbling and complaining will not take you to where you need to be. It will drain precious energy from your life and steal the joy out of your soul.
A negative attitude will take you into periods of depression. In the Old Testament, grumbling and complaining kept the Children of Israel out of the Promised Land. Today, you will never become the person that God’s wants you to become if you have a sour attitude.
John Maxwell reminds us that our attitude determines our altitude. Some of you may be wondering why you have been overlooked in your career. Could it be that your attitude has hindered your ability to connect with people? Could it be that you have allowed a negative and bitter spirit to steal your joy. Joy is a choice; it is a decision that we make. The grumbling people died alone in the wilderness. You will do the same because people do not want to be around a complainer.
As Zig Ziglar says, "It’s time to get a check up from the neck up and get rid of your stinking thinking." Develop a heart of gratitude.
Ÿ Gratitude is the recognition that we cannot do well in life on our own.
We need people to invest in our lives, nurture us, and help us along at critical points. John Donne wrote that no man is an island. We need each other. We cannot do well on our own.
Not only should we be grateful, but we must learn to be content.
3. Be satisfied with what you do have; don’t sour about what you don’t have.
The two biggest joy killers are greed and envy. A wise person knows that more is not necessarily better, and that others are not necessarily better off. When the grass is greener on the other side, it just means that it grows faster and is more difficult to cut.
It is dangerous to compare yourself with other people. In fact, Paul wrote,
2 Corinthians 10:12
We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.
Paul wrote this because he understood the power of envy. When we give envy a place in our heart, it will steal our joy. That’s why the writer of Hebrews states:
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
We need to be satisfied with what we have. Contentment is something that we can learn. When the Apostle Paul was thrown in jail for proclaiming the message of Christ, he penned these words:
Philippians 4:11-13
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Have you learned the secret of contentment? You may be in need this morning; your problems may be overwhelming. Put your confidence in Christ. You can make it with His power.
We all have obstacles, but the key to overcoming your obstacles is to look for the plus sign. If you are going to make progress; if you are going to discover joy in any difficult situation, you have to start with what’s right about it and build on that.
4. Give joy to others and you will get if for yourself.
If you are looking for joy, watch joyful people. You will discover that most joyful people are those who invest their time and energy in others. The unhappiest people are those who waiting around, wondering how someone is going to make them happy.
Someone once asked Karl Menninger, the great psychiatrist, how a lonely and unhappy person should deal with the unhappiness. “Lock the door behind you and go across the street, find someone who is hurting, and help him or her,” he replied.
Serve others. Make a phone call to someone who is hurting or lonely. Go to a nursing home. Visit someone. Mow somebody’s grass who can’t do it for themselves. Write them a note. Give some money away. Become less focused on yourself, more focused on others.
5. Focus on the eternal and not the temporal.
There is a better day coming. As we go through the experiences of life we need to see that one day, all of the wrongs will be made right. One day Jesus will say to those who have trusted him, "enter into the joy of the kingdom of God.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Closing Prayer
End Notes:
1 James Merritt, How to Be a Winner and Influence Anybody (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers 2002), pp. 20-21.
2 Neil Clark Warren, Finding Contentment (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), p. 140.
3 Pat Williams, Mr Littlejohn’s Secrets to a Lifetime of Success (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Fleming H. Revell Publishers, 2000), pp. 192-193.
4 Merritt, p. 27.
