Protect Your Joy | Aaron Marshall
Sunday, October 5
You were made to live with joy that lasts. God offers a deeper, lasting joy that no circumstance can take away. In this message, you’ll learn how to guard your heart from things that steal your joy, silence the voices of your past, and live with a joy that draws others to Jesus.
Key Points
1. Joy is attractive. Nobody wants to be around sad people. Joy attracts people to you and will attract people to God.
2. Joy isn’t happiness. Happiness is rooted in people, places, and things. But the promise ofjoy is rooted in Jesus and breathed on by the Holy Spirit. Even when everything around you is crazy, in the presence of God, there is fullness of joy, and heaviness can’t stay.
3. Don’t allow the world to take your joy. The world can’t take away the joy God givesbecause the world didn’t give it. The Holy Spirit wants to produce the fruit of joy in your life.
4. The flesh and the Spirit cannot live together. If you want consistent joy, not everyone and everything can stay in your life. Don’t let your past mistakes mock you.
Key Scripture
Galatians 5:22-24; Romans 14:17; II Corinthians 6:10; Genesis 21:1-10; Philippians 4:4; Galatians 5:17; Hebrews 12:2; Psalm 51:12
Introduction
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." ( NIV)
Today we’ll explore the message, ‘Protect Your Joy’ by Pastor Aaron Marshall. The message encourages us to focus on the importance of joy as a fruit of the Spirit and its role in the Christian life despite worldly challenges. His sermon emphasized joy as a promise from God and a critical tool in helping us to live out our calling as children of God and servants in His Kingdom.
One of the greatest issues that most of us have with the ‘fruit of joy’ is that we equate ‘joy’ with ‘happiness’. There is a popular notion that joy means that we are always happy, but that is not what joy means. Joy is tied much more closely to hope than happiness. Happiness is the result of positive experiences of the flesh or material nature. The problem is that the flesh and the world are fallen and provide limited and temporary successes. When things start going bad and we face loss or heartache our happiness goes with them thus leaving us empty and depressed. Attempts to remain ‘happy’ in the face of loss and especially death is frequently just a subtle form of legalism where we try to paint on a smiley face when we are heart broken. The weight of this can be crushing.
But we are given the fruit of ‘Joy’ that is a deep spiritual contentment in all circumstances, good and bad, which is founded in hope by knowing Christ has already secured our victory for all eternity. We will not find this by natural knowledge, but only by the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. This joy can still shed tears in the face of loss. (Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb John 11:35). Joy can exist with sorrow (Jesus’ weeping for Jerusalem Luke 19:41-44). Joy can be present during times of passion and empathy. As a matter of fact, Joy is foundational to the power to serve others in times of sorrow, loss, passion, and empathy. It is the power behind the Godly compassion we share when silently sitting or crying with someone who has just suffered a loss.
Today we are going to look at the critical nature of both the Fruit of the Spirit but also the power of Joy and the need to embrace it, protect it, and use it.
This week we will dig into:
· Joy As A Promise From God
· Protecting Joy By Crucifying The Flesh
· Joy Rooted In Christ’s Example
Joy as a Promise from God
Pastor Aaron Marshall’s sermon, Protect Your Joy, reminds us that joy, a fruit of the Spirit, is a divine promise rooted in God’s presence, not in fleeting circumstances. As Galatians 5:22-23 declares,
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (NIV)
Joy is not the same as happiness, which is a temporary, surface-level emotion tied to worldly experiences. Joy runs deeper, a spiritual seed planted by the Holy Spirit, growing through trust and faith, even amidst life’s challenges.
Unlike happiness, which fades when people, places, or things disappoint, joy remains steadfast, anchored in God’s eternal presence. Pastor Marshall highlighted Genesis 22:1-2, where God fulfilled His promise to Sarah, granting her a son, Isaac—whose name means “laughter” or “joy”—in her old age. This joy, born of faith, sustained her through uncertainty. Similarly, our joy is a divine gift, unshaken by the world’s trials, empowering us to live out our calling as God’s children.
Joy is serious business in God’s Kingdom. It’s not about denying sorrow or pasting on a smile but about a deep contentment that coexists with tears, as Jesus wept for Lazarus (John 11:35) and Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44). This fruit of the Spirit equips us to serve others with compassion, sharing in their pain while holding fast to the hope of Christ’s victory. Let us protect this joy, nurturing it through faith, so it may bear fruit in every season of life.
Reflection Questions
· How can you cultivate and protect the joy of the Holy Spirit in your daily life, especially when faced with challenges or circumstances that threaten to steal it?
· Reflecting on Genesis 22:1-2 and Sarah’s story, how has God’s faithfulness brought joy into your life during times of waiting or uncertainty?
· In what ways can you share the deep, steadfast joy of Christ with others, even while experiencing or empathizing with their sorrows?
Protecting Joy by Crucifying the Flesh
Unlike happiness, joy persists through trials, but it must be protected from threats. Drawing from Genesis 21:8-10, Pastor Aaron Marshall highlights Sarah’s response to Ishmael mocking Isaac, the promised child whose name means “laughter” or “joy.” Ishmael, born of human effort (the flesh), represents influences like negative thoughts, toxic relationships, or unedifying habits that undermine joy. Sarah’s demand to remove Ishmael (Genesis 21:10, NIV) reflects the need to eliminate these “Ishmaels” from our lives.
Galatians 5:17 (NIV) states, “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other.”
We must crucify these fleshly influences (Galatians 5:24) to nurture joy. Marshall shares how he protects joy in his marriage and parenting through prayer and accountability, choosing to rejoice despite sorrow (2 Corinthians 6:10) because God’s presence brings fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). By removing what hinders, we cultivate consistent, attractive joy that draws others to Christ.
Reflection Questions:
· What “Ishmaels” (e.g., habits, thoughts, or relationships) in your life mock or threaten your Spirit-given joy, and how can you begin to remove them?
· How has God’s faithfulness sustained your joy during difficult seasons, as seen in Sarah’s story with Isaac?
· How can you actively cultivate joy through spiritual practices like prayer or accountability to reflect Christ to others?
Joy Rooted in Christ’s Example
The Bible teaches that joy in Christ is unshakeable, rooted in connection and purpose, not fleeting emotions. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus, in agony, submitted to God’s will, saying, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42, NIV). His submission, not weakness, led to enduring joy by fulfilling His purpose—redeeming humanity. Likewise, believers find true joy by submitting to God’s will, trusting His purpose over personal desires.
Hebrews 12:2-3 (NIV) states, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Christ’s joy empowered Him through suffering, and our joy, anchored in our identity in Christ, sustains us through life’s challenges. By submitting to God, we discover a joy that cannot be taken away, no matter the circumstances.
Reflection/discussion questions:
· What does it mean that Christ saw the joy beyond the cross? How can that shape our view of our own hardship?
· What areas of your life might God be inviting you to surrender more fully, and in doing so experience more joy?
· Considering the example of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, discuss how you can practically protect your joy as Christ did.
Conclusion
Psalm 16:11 (NIV) - "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."
Pastor Marshall reminded us that experience and living in the fruit of the Spirit is not a passive activity. We have an active role in protecting our joy as a vital fruit of the Spirit. We have to resist the negative influence of our world, our culture, and our weak flesh that would make us pessimistic and fatalistic about our future. As the psalmist wrote: "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Instead, by the power of the Holy Spirit within us we are called to remove fleshly influences and trust God’s promise of joy. God has empowered us to live joyfully despite life’s challenges, reflecting Christ’s victory, and connect this to the hope of eternal joy.
We were reminded of the crucial role that the fruit of the Spirit as a whole plays in the Kingdom of God and as well as our lives. It is the character of God, reflected in us by the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. Fruit is not simply for the sake of the tree it grows on, but for living creatures around it. The purpose of fruit is to spread seeds, multiply, and provide food for the people and animals around it. In the same way, the Fruit of the Spirit is designed to help us multiply spiritually and to provide much needed spiritual nourishment and encouragement to other spiritually hungry people. Our joy is not just for the purpose of sustaining us, but to bless those around us to the glory of our Heavenly Father!
Call To Action:
· Find areas of your life where you are struggling with experiencing God’s joy,
· Look for issues of the flesh that may be clouding your view of God’s joy,
· Identify God’s promises that give us hope that leads to joy in our struggles,
· Commit to surrendering yourself to God’s promises,
· Actively meditate on God’s word and pray that the His Holy Spirit apply these promises not only in your life, but to encourage others whom He has placed around you that may be experiencing similar struggles.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, there is joy only in Your Presence, help me to lift my eyes to where You are. Fix my gaze on You, Your purpose and plan, so that I am not distracted by circumstances, good or bad. Don’t let me miss the opportunity of finding You in the busyness of life or seeing Your hand in daily activities. Open my eyes and help me to share hope and love with others so they can also experience the joy of Your Presence.
In Your Holy Name Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Resources
Download this Group Guide
YouTube
Podcast