Fruits of the Spirit, Part 7: Faithfulness for the Long Haul

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5: 22-26, ESV)

Faithfulness. To me, this seems like a big one. Like love, it is one of the building blocks of the Christian walk. Many will say that God is love, His very countenance drips with it and every time He acts, the action operates out of it. And yes, over the past weeks, we’ve been seeing how each Fruit of the Spirit is an intrinsic piece of who God is. To that degree, none should be discounted.

But to me, God is faithfulness. He wouldn’t be who He is without His steadfast reliability. And maybe that’s not a great word for it. Reliability makes it seem so responsible or obligatory, but to me, God’s faithfulness is the fact that He has never once relented in His pursuits for His people. He is faithful because He loves, but His love for us is because of His faithfulness. 

“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.” (Proverbs 3:3-4, NIV)

And so for faithfulness to be a Fruit of the Spirit makes sense. It is one of those Fruits that God models so flawlessly for us because it has always been extended to us, even in our moments of rebellion and sin. But how does faithfulness go from being a blessing to a Fruit of the Spirit? How can God’s faithfulness to us be imparted to us and be seen in our lives, modeled to others, as a sign of spiritual maturity and Christ-like transformation?

I think that answer is two-fold. First, I think faithfulness becomes a fruit when people see our faithfulness to Christ; when our faith is apparent in the routines and convictions of our daily lives, but also in those life-moments where staying faithful to God is not popular. And I’m not saying to be contrary, superior to others, or maliciously divisive, but I am saying that faithfulness to God entails making sure that our politics, our personal code of ethics, and our affiliations line up with what the Bible spells out for us as Christians. 

It matters to us that God demonstrated the highest form of faithfulness– by loving us so intensely that He chose to die so we could be restored. He never turned His back and walked away from us, and He anticipated you through generations and generations of others to know you personally. He was faithful to you in that He knew every ancestor before you would make intentional decisions for you to be possible and He could offer you salvation. There is no one else in this universe who could want you so passionately.

So why would it not matter to God that we regard Him with the same faithfulness, forsaking all else, suffering through what may come, in order to remain in Him? Yes, friends, it matters very much to God that faithfulness would be a marked byproduct of a life lived closely with Him, that everyone would see and know that you are just as much in love with Him as He is with you.

And once we can manage that kind of faithfulness to God, we can continue to grow faithful fruit in our lives with those that God has given us to be faithful to.

The very picture of faithfulness to me is the story of Hosea the Prophet and Gomer. In short, Hosea, a man of God was told to marry a prostitute named Gomer. I think for humanity on a whole, it is widely understood that your spouse is the most precious person you will ever know your whole life, or at least that’s the hope and intention of the relationship. Now, can you imagine God telling you to marry someone who openly lived a lifestyle like that? To vow that come highs or lows, better or worse, you will remain faithful to and love unconditionally someone who engaged in a profession that meant sharing themselves intimately with other people?

Many people would not be able to maintain a relationship, let alone a marriage or an undying love for that person. Still, Hosea married Gomer and they had several children, and even then Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea with other men. Eventually, Hosea finds Gomer for sale, and with a love that only God can muster for His people, Hosea pays the price for His wife, recommits himself to her, welcomes her home, and promises to remain faithful to her if she is faithful to him.

It truly is a mind-boggling story when you choose to see it through your own eyes, and in every way, the story is a metaphor of the faithfulness that God has shown to us. We are Gomer, giving ourselves away to people and things that only use us and leave us empty, running away from and being unfaithful to the love that God offers us. And yet, God still loves us, ransoms us, welcomes us home, and stays faithful to His vow to love us.

As people, we are so inconsistent in our faithfulness. Why? Because we allow offense to affect us so deeply. Given our fickleness, if we were in Hosea’s position, many of us would turn our backs on a spouse that treated us like Gomer– disrespecting us, dishonoring us, or hurting us in the deepest forms of betrayal. We’d toss off our wedding ring, pack up our kids, and disappear without a word. But when we spend time with God in an intimate and close way, and realize that we were Gomer before God convened and redeemed us by the blood of Jesus and the personal moment of salvation, it becomes our conviction to maintain our covenant relationships in the same manner of faithfulness.

Am I saying that we should remain in an abusive relationship in the name of faithfulness? No, and I don’t believe that God would want you to remain somewhere where your health or safety are at risk. But I do believe that in order to model God’s faithfulness to others, we have to be faithful in the relationships He has given to us in the most sacred capacities: our spouses, our children, our families.

Because if I can model to my children God’s faithfulness by loving my husband in the same way God has loved me– reliably, steadfastly, and unconditionally– then my children would see the fruit of not only God’s faithfulness, but of living a life in close tandem with the Lord. So if you’re struggling with faithfulness in your life, then try viewing your relationships through the lens of God’s faithfulness to you and the heights of love it requires to remain faithful in that.

After all, God allows us to be in those types of covenant relationships, and they are a blessing, but they are also understood to be serious commitments, because God values faithfulness. If we are to be faithful like God, then we have to recognize that means there are no contingencies to excuse us from being faithful. Its very purpose is that God’s love is faithful, suffering all and yet, remaining strong and steady.