The Fruit Of The Spirit #7: Faithfulness

The Fruit Of The Spirit #7: Faithfulness

Galatians 5:22,23 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.

Lamentations 3:22,23 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Faithfulness means being steadfast in secret or having lasting loyalty. We all have received extended mercy, extended grace, extended compassion and extended love from God because of His great faithfulness and unending mercy. The foundation of our faith is not our faithfulness to God, but God's faithfulness to us. Faith and faithfulness are correlated; we put our faith in God because He is faithful. 

The fruit of faithfulness: the God who never breaks a promise is forming within us the capacity to be loyal, dependable and unwavering. 
A person who becomes born again goes through a change of character after they come to know Jesus. It is the work of the only Spirit that brings a change. He becomes faithful in areas where was not earlier and this becomes a testimony for Christ. 

Faithfulness:

• trustworthiness, loyalty to a person or purpose;
• steadfast commitment; 
• moral fidelity even under pressure; (saying ‘yes’ and meaning it even when it becomes difficult)
• staying when others walk away; 

Many of Jesus’ disciples deserted Jesus when He taught them that He is the bread of life. They could not take His teaching though they received the miracles he did.
John 6:55-60 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
 
John 6:66-69 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Jesus’ twelve disciples were faithful and loyal to him and did not leave him.

• praying when answers delay;
• doing what is right when no one else is watching. 

Faithfulness is not about perfection, it’s about consistency.

Daniel is a biblical character that exemplifies faithfulness. Though he served as a high government official in a pagan land and was at the risk of losing his job for violating the king’s decree, he did not compromise on his prayer life because of his faithfulness toward God. He was not a crisis prayer man. Faithfulness was set by default in Daniel. 

"Prayer is my second nature" - a phrase attributed to Ps. David Yonggi Cho

Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Billy Graham shared the Gospel with an estimated 215 million people in live audiences throughout his ministry. This was primarily through his crusades, simulcasts, and evangelistic rallies held in over 185 countries. Moreover, he was faithful to his wife for over 60 years, he was faithful to the message of Christ in every sermon, he was faithful to integrity in financial and moral matters, he was faithful to prayer and Scripture till his final days.

When questioned about the secret for the longevity of his ministry in an interview, Billy Graham said, ‘I have been faithful to the message, faithful to my calling and faithful to my God.’

The marks of a faithful believer:

• Consistent in obedience -  Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. (Luke 16:10) Faithfulness starts in small things - in  how we speak, in how we serve, in how we pray, in how we spend. The Holy Spirit is a faithful Spirit.
• Unshaken by delays - Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23) Many times, God’s timing may seem to be delayed as per our calculations, but a faithful beiever will wait for the miracle/ breakthrough.
• Loyal in relationships - A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. (Proverbs 17:17)

Let’s take a desicion and seek the help of the Holy Spirit to be faithful to God, our partner, our calling,our minstry, our fellowship.