The Fruit of the Spirit is Faithfulness...

In today’s culture, we have learned to be slow to trust. We’ve been hurt by promises broken. “White” lies seem to be common place. We no longer believe that other people are looking out for us. How many people would you trust with your life? Probably not many.

Nonetheless, the Fruit of the Spirit for this week is “faithfulness.” If you’re used to the KJV rendition of the fruit of the Spirit, you probably expected to see the word, “faith” here. Most other translations, including the NKJV, have “faithfulness.” If the Greek word, pi,stij, stood by itself, “faith” would be the proper translation. However, it does not stand alone — it stands in the middle of a list of human virtues.

In this context, the idea of this word is not primarily belief in something (or Someone). Rather, it is believability. Because God is Truth, the fruit of the Spirit is trustworthiness, honesty, reliability, fidelity — faithfulness. God expects us to keep our word and be dependable. Anything less is a very poor testimony, and will probably drive people away from God. As bearers of His name, we need to show His character. And, if we are consistently faithful in all areas of life, people will notice that we are different. If someone asks why, we have an open invitation to introduce them to the Savior! Perhaps, then, they will entrust their life to the giver of life!

May we be found like Daniel before the leaders of his day: “...they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him.” (Daniel 6:4) Or, like the Steve Green song (Find us Faithful by Jon Morh);

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.

In His grip,
Pastor Decker