Fruit of the Spirit : Week Seven

And the Fruit of the Spirit is Faithfulness.

If there was a sentence that described all the fruit and their trajectories, it would be this:

In a life characterized by faithfulness and self-control, one will exhibit love, joy, peace, and patience, through the hands of kindness, in light of goodness, and by means of gentleness.

Faithfulness is one of those foundational qualities, without which the others just don’t make sense, or are even truly possible. Faithfulness is defined as such: long-continued and steadfast fidelity to whatever one is bound to by a pledge, duty, or obligation. 39 times in Scripture the phrase ‘steadfast love’ and the word ‘faithfulness’ are found together referring to the same thing. These two ideas are very closely related. Steadfast love is faithfulness. To love steadfastly is to be faithful, faithful to a person, an idea, a task, or whatever. To have the quality of faithfulness means to actively maintain a constant position through whatever circumstances. Think of a ship’s anchor, and its usefulness in a storm. The wind and waves are tossing the ship about, but the anchor holds firm, fixed in the ground, allowing the ship to remain in the same position. That ship is remaining faithful to the course it set, and is not swerving despite the wind and waves. However it is doing so through actively maintaining a firm hold on the ground through the aid of the anchor. The ship is fixed, and faithful to its goal. This is a picture of our life as Christians. We are pursued by the wind and waves of false doctrine and by the temptations of the world, and we are called to remain faithful. We can only do so through the anchor of Christ, through which we have a firm and fixed hold on God and His truth and unchangeable character, in which is the hope of salvation.

Heb 6:17-20 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Our Faithfulness to God

We are called to be faithful to Scripture. It is our life and contains the words of life. It is the word of our Christ, Jesus. We are called to be faithful to God. What does this mean? How does this look? In this context, faithfulness means obedience. Faithfulness means a steadfast commitment to obeying God’s word to us in Christ, and in the Bible. This is what it means to live a faithful life. Naturally this requires faith, the foundation to a life of faithfulness. By faith, we trust and know that God is God, and is at work to will and to do, and is paving the path before us, giving us the feet to walk ahead. This faith originates with our Father, and He grants it to us, allowing our naturally sinful flesh to stop sinning, and to obey. We are given the ability to obey. We are given the ability to remain faithful. We remember of course that this comes from the strength and the power of the Spirit. But we are called to be faithful, and we can.

So we are faithful to God in that we obey His word. This affects every aspect of our lives. It affects our thoughts, actions, and worldviews. Our thoughts are to be pure and based in truth. Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Whatever we think, in whatever place, in whatever surroundings, our thoughts are holy, and faithful. Jesus says on the Sermon on the Mount that whosoever wishes that a man was dead in his heart, it is as if he has committed murder. His thoughts are enough to condemn him.

Our actions are faithful to Christ in that they exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. Our actions are love, joy, peace, and patience through the hands of Kindness, Goodness, and Gentleness. We exhibit steadfast love to our neighbor. This means selfless love: giving up what we want, and seeing the needs of others as more important than our own.

Our worldview is faithful in that we approach every decision, every choice, every thought and action, from a firm belief in the validity of truth as it is revealed in Scripture. We Honor God as God and Give Him thanks. That is our worldview, meaning we approach everything in that frame of mind. Is what I am thinking right now honoring God and an expression of gratitude? Is what I am doing right now honoring God and an expression of gratitude?

2Co 10:5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

Our Faithfulness to One Another

We live in community, locally and globally. We live in connection with other people. Living in the Spirit means a life of faithfulness, and that has feet outside of our prayer closets, and in the streets we travel. What does that look like? Part of it was mentioned above, that selfless love is the rule of the day. We consider others before ourselves. This means opening the door for your sister, giving your brother the last cookie, obeying your parents, and so on. The other part is a sense of loyalty to people outside of yourself. This is another angle of selflessness. Christians need to be dedicated to one another. This is part of the command we have from Christ, to love one another, for by this the world will know we are His disciples. A sense of belonging to a community, a deeper city, is essential to the life of a Christian. A Christian in isolation is doomed, and apart from the grace of God will fall by the way. We were not created to be in isolation, but rather in community. This means living with people: sinful people. Faithfulness to a group of sinners takes great humility. We recognize that we all of us are sinners, and we all of us have received the magnificent grace of God, and to deny fellowship to someone whom God has granted fellowship is arrogance and spits in the face of Christ. Jesus died for that person, and we don’t receive him into fellowship because we don’t see eye to eye. Here we make ourselves out to be God, extending fellowship based on our standards. This flies in the face of Christian love. The only response to our brethren is steadfast love. Steadfast love extends fellowship no matter what color shoes the other person wears. Steadfast love loves through wind and waves, is devoted and true, and faithful. Another word for this is constant. Christians need to be described as being constant, cornerstones, solid. This is a life of faithfulness. What does this look like? James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Faithfulness gets dirty and lives in a real world, brining soup to the homeless, toys to the orphans, and blankets to the widows. This all is a steadfast love for and dedication to others. Upper room service toward the world, and our brother and neighbor first. Faithfulness to yourself will mean neglecting everyone for the sake of your own comfort. Faithfulness to others will mean neglecting your own comfort for the sake of everyone.

God’s Faithfulness to His Children

Our every reason for being faithful to others is summed up in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. While we were in the very throes of sin and wickedness, Christ for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, and the shame, counting it as nothing. For the purpose of redeeming, purchasing, for Himself a people, a bride. Therefore, if Christ did this for us, how can we not do likewise? Are we better than Christ? Are we above forgiving, and living in harmony and community? Our Father has been, and continues to be faithful to us on two counts. The first is our redemption. From the beginning of time, we have set apart for the purpose of glorifying God, through the salvation brought by Christ. We were set apart as that people, that bride. Every promise, starting with the promise He gave Eve in the garden stating that the Serpent’s head will be crushed, has been fulfilled, and we await the final fulfillment, the promise of the resurrection. But God has spoken and has been faithful to His word. He speaks, and it is as good as done. He is faithful to abide by His promises. The second is our daily provisions. How we live day to day is completely due to the faithfulness of God. Were we left on our own, completely and utterly, we would perish. Even the very fact that our lungs are breathing right now, is a blessing coming from the faithfulness of God. Were He to be unfaithful in any way, the universe would simply collapse. It is bound together by the power and truth of His word, and if His word is not true, all is unraveled.

Mat 6:25-33 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

In Conclusion

We have no reason to doubt the faithfulness of God towards us. He provides eternal life and every day life. We in return are called to be faithful to those around us. It is a picture painted by the Spirit, that He is waiting to hang on the wall of our life. He is teaching us to destroy the shameful copy of His work, our copy being faithfulness to self, and exhibit the original. Here we are again. This is how we honor God as God, and give Him thanks. We show God honor and gratitude as we live faithfully to His word, and to one another. So dedicate yourself to Scripture, loving to read it over and over again. And dedicate yourself to the service of others, in whatever field you end up in, whether that be plumbing or teaching, electrical work or the ministry. The trajectory of your job, your earthly efforts need to be toward serving others, and in doing that you are serving God. “When you did it to the least of one of these, you did it to me.”