The Holy Spirit’s fruit of faithfulness
Faithfulness is the fruit of the Spirit that enables us to trust Christ and rely continuously upon His truth. This fruit of faithfulness is not about our being worthy of trust, but recognizing God as being worthy of trust, which leads to a constant reliance on Him. Magnificently, Christ sent the Holy Spirit to fill our lives with faith.
The faith given by the Spirit is intricately involved in connecting to God. It is essential to pleasing God and possessing His power. Through this divine fruit, we can accomplish His purposes. Here again, we see the reciprocal relationship of divine enablement leading to personal empowerment.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 NASB
Do you have more faith in yourself than in God?
In our human declaration of independence, we confidently communicate we are full of faith. But the faith we possess is faith in ourselves instead of faith in Christ. Perhaps we attempt to convey we enjoy a significant relationship with Christ, but no impact is evident.
People may be right in their own eyes,
Proverbs 21:2 NLT
but the LORD examines their heart.
Without a connection to truth that is facilitated by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, we cannot even be aware of our pretense.
We persist in pretense and perpetrate lies.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Hebrews 4:12 NLT
God wills for us to know the truth, and He is constantly revealing truth. But when we demand our independence, we persist in the lies and perpetrate the pretense.
The counterfeit fruit of faithfulness results in anxiety.
Too often we choose to counterfeit faith when we pretend we can handle everything. A crisis quickly exposes the pretense when anxiety invades. In the midst of anxiety, we give mental energy to the resolving of our own problems as opposed to trusting God to resolve our problems. Our feeble attempts are lacking without genuine trust in Christ. Trust either waits on God to provide direction, or it acts on what God has already instructed. If you find yourself experiencing the symptom of anxiety, consider what means of pretense you may be employing to counterfeit God’s fruit of faithfulness.
You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. . . . They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly.
2 Timothy 3:1, 5 NLT
Evidence the Holy Spirit’s fruit of faithfulness
We will evidence the Holy Spirit’s fruit of faithfulness when we lay aside our pretense and its resulting anxiety in exchange for trusting Christ.
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 NLT
Are you trusting Christ and relying on His truth, or is your anxiety revealing that you are attempting to counterfeit faithfulness?
Prayer Pattern to grow in faithfulness
Father, please help me to understand that it is impossible to please You without faith. I want to come to You, and I believe that You exist and that You reward those who sincerely seek You.
based on Hebrews 11:6
Insight Journal
- Describe a situation in which you used pretense instead of relying on the Spirit’s fruit of faithfulness. Then consider, how would this situation be described differently if you were relying on the Spirit’s fruit of faithfulness?
Become a Fruit Inspector!
Sign up to get the Fruit Chart for an excellent summary of the fruit of the Spirit and their counterfeits.
By all means, don’t miss these previous posts:
- The Fruit of the Spirit is Love
- The Fruit of the Spirit is Joy
- The Fruit of the Spirit is Peace
- The Fruit of the Spirit is Patience
- The Fruit of the Spirit is Kindness
- The Fruit of the Spirit is Goodness
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Excerpts from Desperate Dependency by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis.
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