Fruit of the Spirit – Faithfulness
Last week we explored the Holy Spirit’s fruit – Patience. So this week we will delve into the fruit of Faithfulness. The basis of being faithful is Trust. There are different modes and levels of trust that we may display in our lives. It may be the kind of trust that a man and a woman build on in a relationship and have as a strong foundation as they grow closer and need for the covenant of marriage. Or it could be the kind of trust that each member of a team (like the Navy Seal teams) must have to ensure their safety and life as they train and engage in covert operations around the world. It may be a special trust you have in a lifelong friendship with someone you have known and keep in contact with since grade school. Trust is the foundation of this fruit of faithfulness.
Our human nature, from the earliest years as a child, causes us to have hearts that turn away from God. Our hearts can turn colder and colder until they as so cold as to reject God time after time He reaches out to us. But once we accept Christ as our savior our hearts begin to soften and the seeds of God’s goodness begin to grow in us. The Spirit of God takes up residence in us as we come to have a most personal relationship. We begin to realize that each fruit of the Spirit can only begin to ripen by the grace delivered by God. Hopefully our new hearts grow and we display the fruit and produce it in our actions and words throughout our lifetime. As Alistair Begg so succinctly says “that the fruit of the spirit is the result of the work of God who gives us a new heart and moves us to obey Him.”
In 1 Corinthians Chapter 3 we hear Paul explain that there are Christian leaders who “plant” the word of God, those who “water” during the teaching of scripture, BUT God is the only One who causes the “growth”. As we heard in last weeks Old Testament scripture of Exodus 16 about the grumbling from the people of God, they were not left to starve and die in the desert . Even with all the complaining, God provided the manna and the quail and the water for their basic needs. God was Faithful even though the grumbling and complaining probably upset Him (like our earthly fathers and mothers have been upset with us as they provide(d) all that we needed and more but we still complained.
We can see that God promises to remain faithful to all believers throughout our lifetime. Even as Paul is imprisoned and as he writes to Timothy, he tells him of God’s faithfulness, God will never leave us or forsake us especially in the days and nights that are the toughest. God will be faithful and we will endure. Paul says “ It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him……If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2: 11-13.
We may often ask why does God test us and put trials in our lives? Especially since God is all knowing and already knows what we are going to do. But we do have the will to make choices and God wants to see what those choices we will make when left alone. Remember what choices Eve and Adam made so long ago in the garden.
Here is a simple example from my early years. Maybe you can remember one of yours too. There was that time when you were told when you had to be back home from a night out. Many of us tested the limit of that “household rule.” You finally may have treated it to the max as you tried to sneak into the the front door, only to have it opened by your father and ….. So God tests us and we surely know in our hearts when we have disobeyed. Still, God is faithful to forgive us and encourage us when we run to Him like the prodigal son in the story Jesus tell us in Luke 15: 11-32.
It comes down to Trust. Much like the words you said in marriage long ago or you may say one day…. “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part…..I pledge my faith.” God’s faithfulness is even more binding than that pledge because He will never leave us or forsake us. Amen