Did you know that you have all that you need to have the amazing life that Jesus wants you to have? You say, “maybe you do but I am lacking many things.” You may feel like you are lacking many things but the truth is that if you have the Holy Spirit in you then you have all that you need. The Holy Spirit is peace, joy, love, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, and self control. And since you have the Holy Spirit abiding in you that means that you have all that the spirit is. You may not be making use of them, but you do have them within you.

We find ourselves saying that we will be happy when we have a nicer car, a bigger house, better clothes, more money, a better job, or better relationships. While all these things will bring us momentary happiness it will not be long before we are searching for it again. Because we are looking in all the wrong places for the joy that we crave it never last long if we do find it. True happiness does not come in the form of things or other people.

If we want everlasting happiness we get it from within ourselves. And once we have the Holy Spirit in us we have all that we need for that happiness. The Holy Spirit has what is called fruits of the Spirit for a reason. A fruit has to be planted, nourished, and grow before it is ripened. It is the same way with the fruits of the spirit. Jesus planted the Holy Spirit in us. The word of God nourishes our spirit. And as we practice putting to use the peace, joy, love, gentleness, patience, and self control, it grows more and more until it is ripened, a continuous practice in our lives.

We are not without any of these things. But if we are going to be able to grow them into fullness then we have to first believe that it is within us. Say “I have peace, I have joy, I have patience, I have self control. I got it. I already have it and I am going to use it.” Tell yourself these things out loud and over and over in your mind until you believe it. Once you believe that you have it then you can use it.

When you feel sad or angry tell yourself that you have peace and joy, then choose to focus on it instead of being sad or mad. When you want to do something that you know you shouldn’t do, tell yourself that you have self control and choose to use it instead of giving into the desire. When you want to be rude to someone, tell yourself that you have kindness and choose to be kind instead of being mean. As you do these things your fruits of the spirit get stronger and stronger until they become your natural response.

When we are full of peace, kindness, gentleness, love, patience, and self control then we are truly happy. When we are being kind to others and doing the things that we know we should do, practicing self control, we are happy with ourselves. When we are following the Holy Spirits guidance for our life we are satisfied and whole. We lose the concept that we need this thing or that person to be happy with life. We no longer search for the feeling of happiness because we have true joy in our heart.

I know all of this to be true because i have experienced it first hand. I used to look to things and people to make me happy. I was always looking for my next “happy fix” because once I got what I thought I needed the happiness never stayed around long. Then I put to practice what I mentioned above and I finally experienced real happiness. Nothing in my life had changed but I changed, and it was the happiest that I had ever been. I decided to choose to use the peace, love, patience, gentleness, kindness, and self control that was within me and true joy came from that. It didn’t happen over night. It took time and some “on purpose” living. But once I believed that the Holy Spirit abided in me and that I had all that He is I was able to make the choices and changes that I needed to make and the result was an amazing life.

Our happiness starts within us. All of the outer worldly things are just add ons. They may be nice to have, and yes we can enjoy them, but our joy can not come from them. Joy comes from a peaceful heart produced from the Holy Spirit. So you already have all that you need to be able to enjoy every day of your life. Start making use of it today while you nourish your spirit with the word of God and watch your joy increase.