When Fruit Speaks - Love & Joy
Holiday Issue 2024
ROOTED IN LOVE
Can you believe 2024 is almost gone? When I envisioned the way this newsletter would go for December, I wasn’t expecting to release a holiday issue. With that, I’m excited that I get a chance to share what God gave me about the Fruit of The Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Over the next five weeks, I’ll share my testimony on how I partnered with the Holy Spirit to mature in these areas (and I’m still being developed).
I remember the first time I realized my love walk didn’t align with the biblical love that’s spelled out in 1st Corinthians 13. It was in 2010. I was on my way to assist with an event hosted by my young adult ministry. I want to note that I was one of the founders and leaders of this ministry, which will help give context to how impactful this moment was. I was on the phone with one of my co-leaders. I was frustrated with a decision he was making that didn’t align with what we had previously agreed to. I hung up on him. When he called back, I handed the phone to my mom so she could answer it (to be fair, I was driving over to Jersey and wasn’t using Bluetooth at the time).
I could hear him saying through the phone, “Tell Mya today, we’re going to walk in love. We’re trying to show that today.” While I was still annoyed by his actions, he was right. The theme for the event that night was about showing God’s love to the people who would attend. How could I do that if I wasn’t able to show it to the people God had already placed around me? Ouch. I was convicted. Heavily. I can’t say that things turned around immediately, but that was the year I started writing scriptures out again on index cards.
One particular passage of scripture was 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Wherever it said, ‘love’, I put my name. “Mya is patient and kind. Mya does not envy…Mya doesn’t keep a record of wrong”, and so on. I wanted to get this right so bad. But I was trying to do it in my flesh. Impossible. Today, in 2024, I can tell you I’ve matured in my love walk the way Jesus intended when we partner with the Holy Spirit (and I’m still growing because we’ll never arrive on this side of heaven). I’m not striving in my flesh to “get it right”.
The more time I spent in God’s presence, studying His word, worshipping Him, and closing doors to the enemy that were open in my life, the more I became deeply rooted in love. Yes, quoting and applying the scripture is a part of it, but the reason Paul emphasizes, “The fruit of the Spirit is…” tells us that we can’t do this separate from the Spirit. Too often, when people learn they have a weakness, they seek to figure it out instead of submitting to the One who can help them work it out.
Too often, when people learn they have a weakness, they seek to figure it out instead of submitting to the One who can help them work it out.
One of the other things that helped me in this area: I stopped running from the situations that God placed me in that would help me develop the fruit of love. Godly love sticks around when things get tough. Fleshly, “Disney” love wants to be around when it’s all “feels” and “thrills”. And let’s be clear - this isn’t just about romantic relationships. This is about dealing with people. God is intentional about making sure that we become true image bearers. Every situation we encounter that squeezes our fruit a little more is one that God is using to get what isn’t like Him out of us.
Lastly, ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you need to mature in this area. He will do it. God gives us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). This means He intends to show up when we ask Him to help us in our areas of weakness. Once God tells you how you can do better, lean into the ways He provides for that to happen. Your flesh will scream, but your spirit will grow.
JOY UNSPEAKABLE
Godly joy sustains us when life leads us into sadness, sorrow, and despair. When I think about the number of billionaires and millionaires who commit suicide, only to have people say, “They seemed so happy”, I realize we all have some maturing to do when it comes to how we view happiness. Most importantly, we have to learn to separate happiness from joy.
Over the last five-plus years, I’ve heard one compliment that continues to blow my mind. “You are such a joy to be around.” If you knew me in my early and late 20s, you would understand why that compliment leaves me speechless whenever I hear it. I went from being mean, angry, and looking for ways to cut people with my words, to being someone who lives in such a flow of Godly joy that it overflows into the lives of others, often without me having to say a word. This isn’t a statement of pride, it’s a recognition of growth.
I went from being mean, angry, and looking for ways to cut people with my words, to being someone who lives in such a flow of Godly joy that it overflows into the lives of others often without me having to say a word.
This didn’t come because I quoted ten affirmations daily for three years straight. It came from sitting in God’s presence and allowing Him to impart His joy to me until it became my default setting. The more time I spend with the Lord, the more I take on His character and attributes. The more time I spend singing songs of praise to The Lord, the more His joy fills my heart; the more I submit to His will, the more His joy overwhelms me, even when obedience leads me into a storm.
By now you realize there’s nothing we can do apart from the Holy Spirit. If you’re a believer, don’t just rest in the place of salvation. Invite the Holy Spirit into every area of your life so you can experience a joy that overflows, even in dark seasons that leave you frustrated and depleted. This doesn’t mean I don’t cry or have days where I want to give up. It means I have something to hold onto during those crazy, uncertain, or painful circumstances.
That’s why I can write this newsletter while still waiting for God to provide me with my own home, although I’m currently living in someone else’s. I have joy in pursuing what God has placed inside of my heart, even though I don’t have all of the resources I need to get some stuff done; lastly, with all of the deaths my family has experienced over the last several years, along with the constant financial hardship even while walking in obedience to God, I still have a joy that remains, no matter what I may lose in this life.
If there’s one thing I want you to get from this “When Fruit Speaks Holiday Series” it’s this: there is no shortcut to developing the fruit of the Spirit. It comes through a process called “surrender and obedience”. Constant, daily, hourly surrender and obedience. So, whatever way God is trying to produce these two fruits in your life in this season, submit to it. It’s the only way.