Galatians 5:22-23
"...the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives:
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
Faithfulness is steadfastness
Faithfulness is one of the fruits of the Spirit that should mark our lives as Christians. When we hear the word "faithfulness" we most likely think of marriage. Being a faithful spouse means you are committed to your spouse no matter what. Sadly, our culture today does not represent faithfulness very well. Even when we look at stats for Christian marriages, approximately twenty-five percent of Christians divorced in 2016.
If you look at your own past relationships - whether they be friendships, family, or romantic - how many times have you been let down because the ones you trusted to love and care for you let you down because they were not loyal, steadfast or true to their word. Once you have been hurt in this way, it's really hard to open your heart again and trust, but over time we often times can.
Our human experiences play a huge roll in how we perceive God. If we have come from a family, where let's say, the father was harsh, emotionally disconnected, or even absent, this can affect how we perceive God.
If we have been let down time and time again by those who are supposed to care for us, whether that be family or friends, we can very easily lump God in that group of "the unfaithful".
Those experiences can also have a very negative affect on how we interpret His word. If I can't trust humans who are supposed to love and care for me, how then am I to trust God and what He says?
I want to encourage you to give Him a chance. I know it may feel risky - I do understand that - but if your heart is longing for more than this world can satisfy, and your mind is curious, then simple ask Him to reveal Himself to you through His word- and see what happens.
Here is an overview of God's story:
Old Testament
· Genesis 1–11 (history that is foundational to all doctrine—including the gospel)
· Exodus 20 (which gives the Law)
New Testament
· John (outlines who Jesus is and how He is the God-man and our Savior)
· Romans (which teaches the gospel in depth)
· and the last two chapters of Revelation (which teach about the new Heavens and earth, and that those who trust
Christ will be with the Lord forever, and those who don’t will sadly suffer the “second death” being separated from God in Hell forever)
We can learn so much about faithfulness when we look at the person of Jesus and the Father.
As you read through the bible you will see time and time again God's faithfulness to those who love and obey Him.
Let's look at one account from the Old Testament. It is the account of Abraham and Sarah, and what account it is.
It is a close look at God's faithfulness and our lack of faithfulness.
Genesis 12 The Call of Abram
"12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there."
"...the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
"Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me...
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.”
"When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you...
17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?...
19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him."
"Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
God's faithfulness may not always look as we may think it should, or it may take Him longer than we desire - But He is faithful because He is good. And when we take matters into our own hands - we mess things up and pain comes from it.
God is the perfect example of faithfulness - learn from Him - be open to the Holy Spirit and be willing to submit to His working in your heart.
“Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.” (Psalm 36:5)
If you think God's faithfulness is amazing in the life of Abraham - look to the cross of Christ -
there you will see what faithfulness truly looks like -
"Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort in love, any sharing in the Spirit, any sympathy, 2 complete my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, being united, and agreeing with each other. 3 Don’t do anything for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. 4 Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others. 5 Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus:
6 Though he was in the form of God, he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit.7 But he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave and by becoming like human beings. When he found himself in the form of a human, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.9 Therefore, God highly honored him and gave him a name above all names, 10 so that at the name of Jesus everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Grace & Peace <><