The Fruit of Faithfulness
If you already have the song “Faith” by George Michael stuck in your head by reading this post’s title, you are not alone! In the music video, the song begins with the lone sound of a church organ as the camera pans to George Michael’s infamous single cross earring. Sadly, that is where the song’s relevance to the fruit of the Spirit ends. Or is it?…
George Michael sings the word “faith” 28 times in just over 3 minutes. That may seem like a lot of reassurance in such a short time, but maybe that is exactly the amount of reassurance we need to have faith.
The lyrics read like George Michael has just gotten out of a bad relationship. He feels the need to be loved again and is tempted to go back to the person who broke his heart, but he keeps telling himself to wait for something more. To have faith that something better, or rather someone better, will come along. This is not too different than the constant temptations we face in life to keep going back to our old selfish ways, self-destructive behaviors, or unhealthy relationships. We impatiently seek Earthly pleasures in an attempt to ease our pain or discomfort, yet we should be waiting for something more.
Jourdan’s Definition:
The first thing that came to mind when thinking of faithfulness was marriage. In the context of the fruit of the Spirit, it was easy for me to see where faith came in, but it was not as easy for me to see how being faithful was relevant. In my mind, having faith and being faithful were two different things. The former was trusting in something and the latter was committing to someone. Then I remembered something crucial that brought it all together. In the Bible, there is an analogy in which the church is described as the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 21:2) and Christ is referred to as the groom (Matthew 9:15; Matthew 25:1-13; John 3:29; Revelation 21:2). Aha! My association of faithfulness within marriage is applicable after all. The fact that Christ is in the analogous marriage means that He is also faithful to us; faithfulness goes both ways.
Over 300 prophecies foretold in the Old Testament were fulfilled throughout Jesus’ life, death and resurrection (Source). History shows that God keeps his promises. We have no evidence or reason to doubt that. But do we keep our promises to God? How many times have we bargained with God saying “If you just do , I promise I will go to church more.” Faithfulness goes beyond just having faith that God exists, although that is part of it (Hebrews 11:1). We are called to be faithful to Him. One way to do this is to be faithful in prayer (Romans 12:12). Faithful prayer is praying regularly and humbly. Praying humbly is asking for God’s will above your own and trusting that God will take care of you in His timing (1 John 5:14-15). Jesus said that even faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains (Matthew 17:20). To put that into perspective, a mustard seed is only 1-2 mm in diameter, and yet it can grow into a tree that is 20-30 feet tall. That is how powerful faith is. In the words of George Michael, we gotta have faith, faith, faith.
“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” -Matthew 17:20
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. -2 Thessalonians 3:3
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. -Deuteronomy 7:9
Nohemi’s Definition:
Have you ever heard the following saying: Pinky Promise? I went to Mr. Google to find where this originated and what I discovered was pretty interesting. This is what Google shared:
This swear is considered to be the highest regard of all the promises. One possible origin of this traditional promise is Japan, where it is known as 'yubikiri', meaning “finger cut-off.” Supposedly, people in Japan believed that if you break a pinky promise, you have to cut off your pinky finger in return (Source).
Yeah… that’s pretty extreme! The interesting part to me was how this simple saying has such high regard. To this day, keeping or breaking a pinky promise is extreme (not to the point of cutting your pinky off - ew) but nonetheless, people still stick to their word when keeping a pinky promise. When I think of God’s faithfulness, I think of it in this way. He is keeping a pinky promise with us. Psalms 100:5 states that his faithfulness continues through all generations. With God’s faithfulness it comes with promises such as: compassion (Lamentations 3:24), a plan (Jeremiah 29:11), strength (Isaiah 41:10) and that He will never leave us (Romans 8:39).
Even if we don’t keep our end of the promise, God doesn’t hold it against us or leave us. Instead he forgives us:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:19
It’s so good to know that God will keep his faithfulness that he pinky promises (Deuteronomy 7:9).
Core Fruit:
While we are called to display all nine fruit of the Spirit, we believe each of us has a fruit that is at the core of our being. It is the fruit that we display most often, the one that defines our personality, or the one that comes easiest. As promised in the introduction of this series, we want to help you identify your “core fruit.” We felt inspired by the idea behind the 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Just like knowing your love language can strengthen your relationships, so can knowing your own “core fruit.” We believe leading with the fruit of the Spirit helps us to relate better to God, and in turn others.
Your “core fruit” might be faithfulness if:
You are reliable
You keep your promises
You have strong endurance
You have many lifelong friendships
You are loyal
Questions to think about:
How would you define “faithfulness”? How have you been faithful? How can you be more faithful?
