A Deeper Study of the Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness
Share
“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” (Galatians 5:22-23).
If someone says that you are faithful, that is a beautiful compliment. When I think about the word faithful, I ponder a person who is loyal, dedicated, punctual, and a true friend. Webster’s Dictionary defines faithful as “steadfast in affection or allegiance, firm in adherence to promises, true to the facts, and full of faith.”
These truly are only qualities that can be perfectly displayed by Jesus. Someone might have great faithfulness to a country, a boss, family or friends. However, it will never be done perfectly because we are only human. The Holy Spirit within the heart of a believer helps a person to have an “out of this world” faithfulness.
Faithfulness in the Greek
The Greek word found in Galatians 5:22 is pistis. It is seen many times throughout the New Testament. Why? Because faith is an essential part of the Christian life. I love how the definition above shares that to be faithful is to be steadfast. It is not easy to remain loyal to Jesus because, like Peter the disciple, we fail Him. However, He has remained perfectly faithful to us.
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).
I am pondering this verse as we discuss faithfulness because in order to be faithful as believers, we must remain in Christ. We can remain faithful to Jesus if we are abiding in Him. We humbly accept the fact that, apart from Him, we cannot have faithfulness to Him, because we can do nothing of eternal significance without Him.
“Your Faith Has Made You Well”
Many times, we read the word pistis in moments of healing from Jesus. The phrase, “Your faith has made you well” is spoken in Matthew 9:22, Mark 5:34, Make 10:52, Luke 18:42, and others. Romans 4:9 teaches that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteous. Romans 10:17 teaches that faith comes from hearing. If someone has told you about the gospel, this leads to you placing your faith (and your trust) in Jesus.
Think about someone who goes skydiving. The rookie is strapped to an unknown instructor, in whom you must place a lot of faith as they take their leap together. In a greater way, we are the rookies, and though we do not see God, we know He exists. We know He loves us, He has given us His Word and His life on the cross through Jesus. He gives us His Holy Spirit when we place our faith in Him. Jesus is our Healer, but we have a response to accept Him and place our faith in Him.
To be faithful means to trust. If I did not trust a skydiving instructor, I would not strap myself to him. However, if I trusted him, I would go in faith, knowing that he knows what to do to keep us safe in the unknown jump. God knows all and He is worthy of our faith. He is faithful to us, He has already shown His credentials as Savior and Lord of all. We just have to attach our lives to Him and allow Him to lead us in life’s unknowns. It is adventurous, exhilarating, challenging, and hope-filled to be a follower of Jesus.
Jesus did the work on the cross, but when we place our faith in Him, our faith makes us well. We are spiritually healed from the sickness of sin and eternal punishment. We are free and we are whole.
How Are You Growing in Faithfulness?
Faith is also a spiritual gift. Maybe you are like me and faith is lower on your list of strengths. However, when we have the Holy Spirit, faithfulness is accessible and part of our lives. We can go to Him in our weaknesses and ask Him to help us grow by being more faith-filled. When we believe in God and trust Him, we can go out and be steadfast, knowing who He is and who we are in Him.
This can also look very practical. Do you struggle with dedication, punctuality, or being true to your word? These are also areas to grow in faithfulness. As believers, our lives model our faith to others. If we are walking testimonies for Jesus, would people say that we model Him in how we value the time and investment of others? Is our world and our day-to-day about us, or about serving God and those around us? There absolutely is grace when we run late sometimes or when we have to change our minds on a commitment, however if this has become a trend in your life or mine, we need to re-evaluate the fruit of the Spirit of faithfulness.
We can pray and ask God to give us the steadfast gumption to seek Him daily and to let our yeses be yeses and our nos be nos. Matthew 5:37 says, “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”
Who is someone that is very faithful in your life? What are the qualities they show that reveal this trait of the Spirit? What are ways that your feel convicted to grow in faithfulness with the help of God? In what ways are you currently living out faithfulness?
Be Faithful through Christ
Celebrate and be willing to change. We are all being refined into the image of our Savior Jesus. None of us have been perfectly faithful, but Jesus has done it for us. I would like to end with this closing thought. Peter was the disciple through whom Jesus said He would start the church, however Peter went on to deny Jesus three times at his death on the cross. Peter acted in fear. However, after Jesus returned from the dead, He had a redemptive conversation with Peter over breakfast. He asked him three times if he loved Him. He referred to him as his original name Simon before he was called Peter.
“He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep’” (John 21:17).
Maybe you need a reminder that you need to feed Jesus’ sheep by being faithful today? Remember that even if your faith has been weak in the past or you have even denied Jesus, the Spirit of the Living and Victorious Savior lives in You. We can have lives that are full of faithfulness through the help of His Spirit.
Related articles
A Deeper Study of the Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness
A Deeper Study of the Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness
A Deeper Study of the Fruit of the Spirit: Patience
Photo credit: Pexels/Matheus Bertelli
