“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…”

faithfulness 

“Faithfulness” here is the character of fidelity. Those are people who keep their promises. People can count on these people with assurance that they will keep their word or do what they say. They are reliable.

People who carry the character of fidelity hold convictions about certain norms. We can rely on them because they commit themselves to those norms. They will be true to what they say because their beliefs transcend the circumstance or situation. They do not put their finger to the wind to watch for the prevailing opinion. They do what is right even in the face of opposition. We can count on them because they will be true to their convictions regardless of the context. They are trustworthy and true.

Principle:

Faithfulness is the quality that renders a person trustworthy or reliable.

Application:

Genuine salvation faith produces an ongoing vital faith. A “faithful” person unconditionally trusts God alone. He does not doubt that God sovereignly works all things together for good.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

The Holy Spirit not only enables us to believe in Christ initially, but He also enables us to sustain unconditional trust in God. It is reliance on God for our daily Christian walk.

Doubt dims the soul and makes ongoing closeness with the Lord impossible.

“But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:32).

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3).

It is the object of our faith that makes our faith legitimate. Just because we believe something intensely does not make it true, nor does not believing it make it untrue. When a Christian believes a promise from God, that does not make the promise true. The promise is true whether we believe it or not. However, if we fail to believe it, we lose the enjoyment of it.

Faith enables us to enter into the reality of what is objectively true. Faith sees the invisible but not the nonexistent (Tozer). That is the difference between faith and superstition.

Trust never tests God’s promises. Testing God’s promises show a lack of confidence in God. On the other hand, those who trust God can take the shocks of life. When that telephone call comes, a believer with strong faith can cope more powerfully than a Christian with little faith.