The Fruit of Faithfulness (Faith Series

Introduction:

In bible we are clear about one thing, 'God demands faithfulness from us'. God demands faithfulness from us so that He can trust us with the mission and greater responsibility. When we are faithful then only we will have greater responsibility from God as Bible says in Luke 16:10-12 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much" Many time we do not care about our faithfulness and in short time our promise, our words and our works cannot be trusted. Our God's image and reputation is in our hand. When we speaks and give words and do not fulfill, we become unfaithful and untrustworthy due to which God's image and reputation is at stake.

Not only God we ourselves need faithfulness and hate unfaithful. We love to have faithful partner in our life, we are angrier when we hear news about how unfaithful our leaders are, we are inspired by great faithful stories.

"This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed" - 1 Corinthians 4:1

“But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’” - II Cor 1:18, What he’s saying is that because God is faithful, we must be too.

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.”- Matthew 24:45-46

In Luke 18:8 Christ asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

William Carey - the missionary to India who say very few converts in his early ministry wrote to his friend this prayer request .... “Pray for us that we may be faithful to the end”

Paul says of workers in Titus 2:9,10, “Teach workers to … show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.” The old KJV called it “adorning the Gospel.” Don’t miss his point: Our faithfulness [at work!] adorns the Gospel.

God’s faithfulness is his perfect loyalty and consistency in being true to his name, his character, and his word. This is something that is part of who God is, his nature.

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" - 1 Corinthians 15:58

The words Paul uses here give us a way we can think about faithfulness to God. To be steadfast means that you are settled in your thinking or belief. You are not one of those who are tossed to and fro like the waves in your thinking about God. Immovable describes the same sort of position (showing that Paul believed it important). Abounding in the work of the Lord means that we love God and love our neighbor.

What is Faithfulness?

Then the real question for us today is 'what is 'faithfulness?'

Faith gives birth to Faithfulness. The fruit of faith is Faithfulness. It is the fruit of the Spirit.

When we nurture the seed of faith and it grows and bear the fruit of faithfulness. Remember what Paul says to Galatians, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith(fullness), gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law" - Galatians 5:22-23

The Greek word is 'pistis', which is normally translated “faith” (this was in fact, the KJV translators’ choice). There is another very similar word, 'pistos', which is normally translated “faithfulness.” The problem is that both words’ semantic range includes the other. So was Paul here thinking of faith or faithfulness? The NIV translators went with faithfulness.

I would guess they were thinking something like this, “The list is in a sense the products of faith, not faith itself. We’re looking at the fruit, not the root. Faith itself, it would seem, is the root by which the fruit of the Spirit will manifest itself in a believer’s life. Therefore, in this list Paul must be thinking of the virtue of faithfulness.”

Faithfulness is fruit : Faith produces Faithfulness! Being rooted in Christ should enable me to produce this fruit while Holy Spirit supplies the nutrients and strength to make this fruit evident in my everyday life.

Faithfulness is Loyalty.

Faithfulness is Integrity/ honesty.

Faithfulness is being owning trust : Faithfulness is about being a trustworthy person, by being consciously, continuously, and consistently doing things according to the person believe or faith. usually the word used in master and servant relationship, when the servants have done things according to their master expectation.

Faithfulness is obedience: Faithful person obeys the Word of God and His commands. He obeys his words and to not turn against it. Due to his seriousness and obedience we can blindly trust upon him for big responsibility. Faithful person is a Godly person.

Interestingly, Martin Luther held this very view: "In listing faith among the fruits of the Spirit, Paul obviously does not mean faith in Christ, but faith in men. Such faith is not suspicious of people but believes the best. Naturally the possessor of such faith will be deceived, but he lets it pass. He is ready to believe all men, but he will not trust all men. Where this virtue is lacking men are suspicious, forward, and wayward and will believe nothing nor yield to anybody. No matter how well a person says or does anything, they will find fault with it, and if you do not humor them you can never please them. It is quite impossible to get along with them. Such faith in people therefore, is quite necessary. What kind of life would this be if one person could not believe another person?"

Rev.2:10, "Do not be afraid of what you about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for 10 days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life."

Faithful person are committed to their responsibility whether they are appreciated or not by people because they are God focused people. But the sad part of it is, often They are taken for granted because they are faithful. You don't have to worry or wonder about them. They just faithfully do their thing as members of the body, and like the glands of the physical body they are crucial for health, but they are seldom given a lot of thought. But the very nature of faithfulness is that it does the job needed regardless of the recognition. If you only serve the Lord to be seen of men, Jesus says you are like the Pharisees. You may get your reward, which is recognition from men, but you will receive none from God.

Habakkuk reveals his faithfulness in Hab.3:17-18,

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Illustration : Demas unfaithful servants who abandoned paul

Jesus the role model of Faithfulness

Faithfulness is God's own character :

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” - Lamentations 3:22

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” - Deuteronomy 7:9

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful" - Hebrews 10:23

True faithfulness is found in God. God is eternally reliable, steadfast, and unwavering because faithfulness is one of His inherent attributes. God does not have to work at being faithful; He is faithful. Faithfulness is an essential part of who He is (Psalm 89:8; Hebrews 13:8).

In His faithfulness, God protects us from evil (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

sets limits on our temptations (1 Corinthians 10:13),

forgives us of sin (1 John 1:9), and

sanctifies us (1 Corinthians 1:9; Philippians 1:6).

He does not change his mind (Num. 23:19).

He is a God who keeps his word forever (Isa. 40:8).

God seeks faithful character, not only God but people look after the faithful character.

When Nehemiah had to leave Jerusalem to return to Persia, he put Hanani and Hananiah in charge. The reason for his choice of these men was that they were “more faithful and God-fearing . . . than many” (Nehemiah 7:2, ESV). Nehemiah needed men of character whom he could trust. Men who would not take bribes, who were committed to the welfare of the people, and who would uphold the integrity of the office.

We cannot be faithful to people without being faithful to God. It is utmost necessary to be faithful to God.

Difference between Faith and Faithfulness :

Faith leads us to faithfulness. In our Christianity belief, Faith is about God, but faithfulness is about us.

Faithfulness is a word that focuses inside the self, but faith is a word that focuses outside the self, upon an object that is being believed or trusted in. Faithfulness has to do with how reliable or trustworthy I am. Faith has to do with how reliable and trustworthy the object is that I am believing in.