Every mention of joy in these verses is the Greek word "chara". It has the obvious meaning of joy and gladness. But a richer definition is "joy because of grace" or "awareness of God's grace." In John 15, Christ Jesus patterns a life of obedience to God. He reminds us to remain in God's love, as He has; and to keep the commandments, as He has. His purpose for teaching this is so we can share His joy, because we recognize grace from God when we see Him. In Luke 15, Jesus tells us of the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents because they've become aware of God's grace. Acts 8 is a celebration over miracles, joy because of grace taking over a whole city. Romans 14 is joy over grace recognized; it's the Holy Spirit nudging us to relationships that reflect the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:16-26 is contrasting the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. (I'm repeating this every day on purpose, because I know what I can be and I know what I need to be.) The fruit of joy is as hard to discern as love, because of the "overuse" of the word in our culture. Just google "joy" and you'll see what I mean. So many skewed meanings, convincing us that happiness and joy are the same. True joy is this: Jesus, lovingly inviting us to the fullest life. Us being led to repentance when we see God's grace. A firestorm of joy in heaven, because of grace recognized. A pandemic of joy to whole groups when they see the grace of God reflected in us. And then reaching out to those in our own circle, the hardest place of all. Because they know us; they know what spills out of us when we are shaken. They know if our walk with the Spirit is true fruit or just decorative.
I'm changed by this pattern of joy over grace recognized. It's heaven and earth, coming together to rejoice in the goodness of God. It helps me to understand why people can have joy in the midst of trials. Not necessarily happiness---but absolutely joy. Tom Bodett, author, says "They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world--someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for." Because of the grace He extended to us, and the gift of the Holy Spirit-- in Christ Jesus, we have all three.
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