Faithfulness
What is Faithfulness?
In Galatians 5:22-23, the Apostle Paul lists different fruits of the spirit, one of which is faithfulness. What is the faithfulness that he is referring to? The faithfulness spoken about as a fruit of the Spirit is different from believing faith. This kind of faith is the faith that we live by. Even that, however, begs the question, is it faithfulness, as in being full of faith? Or it is faithfulness, as in being steadfast in faith? The answer, I think, is both.
Need for Faith
We all have moments in our life when we need to be full of faith. We need faith for direction, healing, and victory. We need faith that God is going to stay true to his promises. We need faith for a miracle.
When we have these moments in life, we often feel like we need more faith. We want more faith because we believe that more faith will lead to more answers (like, “If I had had more faith, he would have been healed.”) The problem with the quantity approach to faith is that it often places our faith in our own ability to have faith, rather than placing our faith in God alone. Perhaps you’ve been in a situation when you placed your faith in your ability to have faith.
We don’t need to place our faith in our faith, we need to place our faith in God! So where does our faith come from? How can we embody the fruit of faithfulness in our lives?
Faithfulness of God
Stated simply, your faith comes from reveling in the faithfulness of God.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” The confidence and assurance cannot be created out of thin air! It comes from discovering, noticing, and reveling the faithfulness of God.
The faithfulness of God is demonstrated all throughout scripture:
Psalms 86:15 “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
Psalms 36:5 Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
Psalms 89:8, “O LORD God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O LORD, with your faithfulness all around you?
Psalms 119:90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Romans 3:3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? Not at all!
2 Timothy 2:13, “if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”
And these are only passages that speak of God’s faithfulness explicitly. Many more stories could be told of God’s faithfulness. Like when God entered into covenant with Abraham, and sealed the covenant on one side so that the covenant would stand despite Abraham’s unfaithfulness (Genesis 15). Or when God had promised Israel land and stayed true to his promise despite the doubt, questioning, and unfaithfulness of Israel. Or when God was faithful to you in your own time of rebellion.
God displays incredible faithfulness and our faith is a response to the faithfulness of God.
Our Faithfulness
Our faithfulness to God is fueled by God’s faithfulness to us. As we discover God’s faithfulness to us, it not only boosts our faith (belief in God for the impossible), but also our faithfulness (steadfast belief in God in the midst of the impossible). Both our faith and our faithfulness are rooted in the faithfulness of God.
Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” The very reason we are to hold unswervingly is because the One who has promised to be with us in every circumstance, hold us up through every challenge, empower us, build a community called the Church, and one day return to make all things new – is faithful!
In other words, faith grows in us as we gaze upon the faithfulness of God who has given us salvation in Christ and is steadfast in keeping his promises.
Listen to this quote from Beth Moore’s study titled, Living Beyond Yourself, “The degree of our faithfulness is the direct result of our regard for God’s faithfulness. What does faithfulness mean when it is applied to God? The faithfulness of God is His believability! What does faithfulness mean when it is applied to us? The faithfulness of the believer is his belief in God’s believability! Faithfulness is resting in His certainty, being persuaded by His honesty, trusting in His reality, being won over by His veracity…being sure that He’s sure and believing He’s worth believing.”
Your faithfulness isn’t about you. It’s about Him. Our faithfulness is expressing the character of the faithful God whom we serve.
For more teaching about the fruit of the Spirit and faithfulness, check out the resources below from Emmaus Road Church, a church in Fort Collins.
Download the sermon discussion guide
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, you demonstrated faithfulness in all of life, even to death on the cross. Grant unto us grace and strength to faithfully follow you all the days of our lives, that your Kingdom may be proclaimed in all the Earth. Amen. (Adapted from “A Guide to Prayer,” Ch. 49: Faithfulness)