Unravelling My Thoughts

Fruits of the Spirit--joy

I'm back to the topic at hand!
Joy is a fruit of the spirit that people often confuse with happiness. Joy, unlike happiness, does not depend on outside circumstances. A joyful person can be joyful no matter what is going on around them. It's a delightful optimism that cannot be easily understood.

People of Sanguine temperament have the most apt ability to embrace this fruit of the Spirit. Some of them are the type of people whom the Melancholies would scoff at and the Phlegmatics would poke fun at. Because of this ability to embrace the joy they feel around them, they are not susceptible to a long bout of Depression, unless there is a deficiency of certain nutrients in their diets.

People of the Choleric temperament are shaped, like others, by their past experiences. If they are brought up with encouraging parents, teachers, family members, and friends, then they can easily incorporate this fruit into their lives. If, however, they are brought up in a negative environment of any kind, it will be extremely hard for them to accept this fruit. Once they are teenagers it will be apparent whether they will accept this fruit, or put up their stubborn brick walls up against it.

Phlegmatics are usually not affected much by events that cause others emotional calamity, but we can often be cynical about those who seem happier than we are. "They can't be that happy because I'm not that happy," we might say. That is the wrong way to think. When we become joyful about what happens when other people succeed and accomplish their goals, then our cynicism and worry will drop the waste side. It is hard for a cynic to be joyful about about anything, but with God all things are possible.

A person of Melancholy temperament will find the hardest time to embrace this fruit. They often think on past failures and mull them over again and again. They are driven, emotionally, to people who need help with sorrowful situations. They can sense sorrow better than any of the other temperaments. They must, however, not make those sorrowful problems of other people their own problems. To embrace this fruit, they must let go of past failures and how other people might think of them negatively, and use those thoughts not to hinder them, but to empower them. This temperament is the most in need of this fruit, but rarely are led to fully incorporate it into their lives.


Any other thoughts on joy?