Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The second fruit of the spirit is joy. It must be pruned to be shared. Since it is a fruit of the spirit, it is not of the flesh.

The Greek word for joy here is chara. These are the biblical usages of that word.

1. joy, gladness
   1. the joy received from you
   2. the cause or occasion of joy
      1. of persons who are one’s joy

The fruit of the spirit is received by others because it is pruned in us. The cause of our joy is the abiding presence of our Lord. We are His joy.

John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

John 17:13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

Basking in the love of our Lord can be overwhelming and dealing with the light of truth has its effect. Gladness comes later, hopefully not too late. It can be confusing to a new born because the joy of the spirit is not seen by human emotions.

1 Thessalonians 1:6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

We do not want to overwhelm those who have just been reborn. Patience is the fourth fruit of the spirit. That will come in time. If we do not have that fruit of the spirit ourselves, it is best to be aware of it in terms of how we treat the newcomers in the Lord.

My experience is that impatience held back my family’s acceptance of my salvation until more of those fruits of the spirit were pruned in my life. I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing. Part of that was because I came from a church background that did not have a discipleship program. One cannot teach what has not been taught.

What have you been taught? Who is teaching you?

John 15:1-5 English Standard Version

I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

In my past there have been some teachings that led to some confusion surrounding the fruit that is yielded. Many times it is because of the parable of the sower.

Matthew 13:23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

That parable is about the sowing the gospel and the fruit that the gospel yields. Jesus, as the true vine is speaking to us about His abiding presence and what He yields in us. That is very different and we must not be confused about the differences between what we do and who we are because of His abiding presence.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

This is the fruit of His abiding presence. What we should do is see this fruit production in terms of what Jesus said to His disciples. One fruit has to be pruned to produce a different fruit of the spirit. Pruning of the vine does not destroy the fruit, it increases the vines’ production. It is done in order because God is a God of order.

First comes love. It is the first fruit and the most important fruit of the spirit.

1 Corinthians 13:13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Faith and hope are not fruits of the spirit, but love is listed as a fruit. Faith and hope are internal, love is a pouring out, a fruit which is pruned, to be shared. Pruning must not be looked at as a loss but rather a sharing.