Fruitfulness is not about doing more stuff but about being more like Christ. So, we want to be intentional this year in identifying and studying how we can be more like Him. One of the ways we’re seeking to do that is through studying the fruits of the Spirit. In this series, we will investigate joy, which is the second “fruit of the Spirit” that Paul identified in Galatians 5:22, by looking at the most relevant passages that address it.

Psalm 51:1-12 (ESV)

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Lesson Resources:

Rick Atchley. “The Grace Race.” Sermon presented at Richland Hills Church of Christ, North Richland Hills, TX, 1997.

Eddie Cloer. Psalm 51-89. Truth for Today Commentary. Searcy, AR: Resource Publication, 2006.