Traits of a Godly Person: Faithfulness - God's
This week and next, I want to look at the trait of faithfulness. Galatians 5:22 lists faithfulness as one of the fruits of the Spirit. Let’s take a step back for a minute and think about the two passages we are looking at that list the traits of a Godly person. 2 Peter 1:1-11 and Galatians 5:16-26. When we compare the two we see many similarities, but the 2 Peter passage seems to put the emphasis for obtaining these Godly traits on us.
Image by congerdesign from Pixabay
“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, ”
We are told to apply diligence.
Whereas, Galatians 5 seems to put the emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit. It is His fruit that is being brought forth in our lives.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”
Seeing these two passages separately we might think they are not both talking about the same concept, that of Godly traits, but I believe these go hand in hand, complimenting and enhancing one another in a dance that only the Holy Spirit can direct.
Since we discussed Faith the last two weeks, it seemed fitting to move on to the trait of faithfulness. The definition of faithful goes something like this according to Webster’s Online Dictionary:
1 - steadfast in affection or allegiance
2 - firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty
3 - given with strong assurance
4 - true to the facts, to a standard, or to an original
5 - full of faith
This week I want to focus totally on God’s faithfulness to us.
The book of Psalms is probably one of the clearest books in the Bible on God’s faithfulness. The psalmist, who was most often David, understood the difficulties of life. He fought giants, ran from King Saul who was trying to murder him, committed, not only the sin of adultery by being married and laying with Uriah’s wife, but also had Uriah killed. He was on the run, running the kingdom and messing up, yet he repeatedly saw God’s faithfulness to him. That doesn’t mean he got away with his crimes. His sin found him out and the unrest in his kingdom lasted until his death. For more on David read 1 Samuel 8 - 2 Samuel 24, as well as 1 Chronicles 10 - 23.
Image by Parveender Lamba from Pixabay
Take a look at how the Psalmist describes God’s faithfulness:
“For the word of the Lord is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness.”
“Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”
“I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever; To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.”
“Before the Lord, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.”
“For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.”
In addition to the psalmist, a man called Jeremiah understood what the faithfulness of the Lord was. If you have a few extra minutes today read Lamentations 3. Read all 66 verses. There are four verses that stand out and that you have probably heard before.
“21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22 The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.””
Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
Why is it that both of these writers speak of God’s faithfulness during and after great tragedy or difficulty? I believe, that is when we see God’s faithfulness most clearly. Let’s face it, when life is going well, most of us don’t really think about what is going on behind the scenes. We get food from the grocery store. We go to the doctor if we are sick. We have the Geek Squad to help us with our phones and computers. We don’t really have to think about where the food comes from, or will I be able to get in to the doctor, or even waiting very long to get a problem fixed. We live in a drive up window, instantaneous fix society. When things really go wrong and we have no easy answers, that is the time (hopefully), that we realize how very precious each day is and how faithful God has been to us throughout the years.
I am sure each one of you has a story of God’s faithfulness. I love it when God goes over and above to show me His love in the simplest of things. During an especially difficult time in my life, I was feeling very hopeless. I knew in my mind that God was faithful and that He would work things out, but I felt very alone in my grief. It was spring time and my husband and I decided to take a walk at one of our local parks. In my mind I sent up a prayer to God that went something like this:
Image by Ulrike Mai from Pixabay
“God, I know that You are faithful. I know that You will work all things together for good, but right now, I need to see You. I need to see something to remind me that You are there and that You are at work.”
I have inherited my mother’s love for birds. I don’t have the time to be a true birder, but I always get excited to hear them in the morning, especially in the spring, as birds that left for winter, return. Shortly after I prayed my desperate prayer, I saw a flash of red on the trail before me. Ohio’s state bird is the cardinal, but this was no cardinal. There perched in a tree right along the trail was a Scarlet Tanager (click on the link to see a picture and read more about this bird). If you know the bird I am talking about it is brilliant red with a striking black wing and tail. These birds like to stay hidden in the foliage of oak trees, but there he was, just waiting for me.
I knew that bird was my answer to prayer. It still makes me tear up, knowing that the Almighty God did that for little old me. That is faithfulness. It shows His steadfast affection for His creation and His allegiance to upholding me through every circumstance.
I know some of you who are reading this are going through terrible stuff. God wants to remind you, He is faithful. Always and forever.
I would love to hear your stories of God’s faithfulness in your life. We are all in this journey together, so please share. You never know how your story might encourage someone else and remind them of God’s great faithfulness.
Next week, we will take a look at what our faithfulness should look like and how we can make this Godly trait a regular part of who we are.