Joy is something we seem to miss in some of our traditions. The older brother in the Parable of the Two Sons (Luke 15.11 – 32) certainly missed it:

The father said, “My son, you are always with me by my side. Everything I have is yours to enjoy. It’s only right to celebrate like this and be overjoyed, because this brother of yours was once dead and gone, but now he is alive and back with us again. He was lost but now he is found!’” (Luke 15.31, 32, TPT)

Everything I have is yours to enjoy… The son had complained about not being given a goat to celebrate with his friends. Had he asked? It was all there. But he did not serve the father out of relationship or joy but out of duty. “I’ve never disobeyed one of your commands.” But did he know the father’s heart? His heart for his wayward younger son AND for his duty-bound older son? 

These things I have spoken to you that my JOY may be in you and your JOY may be full. (John 15.11, ESV, emphasis mine)

The fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace… (Galatians 5.22)