We’re continuing in our theme of Nurturing our Fruits of the Spirit. Tonight I’m going to talk about the seventh fruit and that’s “Faithfulness”.
I think we all might have a sense of what faithfulness is. If I said “He or she is super faithful with their running”, you’d know I meant that they were steadfast, or resolute in their training. You might infer that they go for a run regardless of whether they felt like it or not. That not missing a workout for a day was super important to them even if it meant ignoring that Achilles pain, or that niggle in their hamstrings. We could probably go on to describe attributes of a faithful runner.
I don’t think Paul had this kind of faithfulness in mind when he was describing the Fruits of the Spirit although I think we can draw some parallels. Biblical faithfulness generally has two sides to the coin. There’s God’s faithfulness to us, and then his people’s faithfulness to God. God’s faithfulness can be seen in that he is always there. He’s the immutable, unchanging, steadfast, dependable rock that we can depend on at all times.
But what is faithfulness? What does faithfulness to God look like, and why would that be considered a fruit of the spirit? Often times when we’re trying to understand what an author meant when they wrote a specific text, is we go back to the original language to find the bigger context. Galations was originally in Greek. And in the Greek text Faithfulness was the word (pietho) which has a meaning of “divine persuasion”, that is to be persuaded by God.
Which means to be faithful that we must be in communication with God. We must be listening to him, and to his arguments in order to be persuaded. That we believe Him. We believe in his ways. To do that, we must spend time in His word, and in prayer affixing our thoughts on the divine. This is an intentional act.
Again, we can see parallels between a faithful runner and a faithful follower. To practice a new skill whether it’s running, swinging a golf club, or passing a soccer ball requires intentional practice. In athletics we break down the different motions and perform drills to intentionally practice something very specific. As a follower, we must do the same. We break down the motions to prayer and spending time in the Word to stay in communication with God.
But not only do we intentionally stay in communication with God, but we must also separate our selves from the world’s thought patterns and practices.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[a]? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
This is not advocating a separation from the world. It’s not saying “go live as hermits in far away remote community away from all those heathens” but rather as a warning to not live LIKE them. Paul said ‘Do not be yoked together with unbelievers, and to be yoked means to have a shared pattern of thoughts or practices. Paul is issuing a warning to be careful about which divine argument we are to be persuaded by. Keeping our pattern of thought, and our practices in HIS word, not in the philosophies of the world.
Finally, I’ll say faithfulness means to obey even when it hurts, or you really don’t feel like it. Again, there is a parallel to our sport. There has probably been days since we started training where you really didn’t feel like coming to practice, but you did it anyway. You didn’t feel like running that last repeat, but you did it anyway. So too is it with Biblical faithfulness. There are times where taking a stand on what God asks of us is going to be difficult, or even painful. We might not feel like spending time in the Word. Or we might want to avoid feeling like we’ll be singled out for adhering to what it commands of us. But that’s what it means to be faithful. And we’re talking about growing fruits of the spirit,. You may have heard me say this before, if not you certainly will before the season is over. You find growth in the things that are difficult. This is just as true when running mile repeats as it is when being faithful to God.
God, thank you for this day you’ve given us. Thank you for your continued faithfulness to us. It would be so easy for you to turn your back on us, but instead you keep reaching out, keep trying to persuade us, keep chasing after us. You are truly a great and loving Father. Thank you. We pray that we can model your faithfulness to us in our faithfulness to you. We pray that you guide our hearts and minds towards your arguments, and guard us from the temptations of the World’s arguments.
We love you God. In Jesus name we pray, Amen