Faith has been described as taking God at His word and doing whatever He says (cf. Heb. 11:1, 6). A person who lives by faith is faithful to God (2 Cor. 5:7). He is reliable and dependable in the things of God. He is trustworthy to the cause of Christ. He can be counted on to obey the word of God. Therefore, unfaithfulness to God shows a lack of faith in God. The fruit of the Spirit includes “faith” (KJV) or “faithfulness” (NKJV, ASV) (Gal. 5:22).

1) Faithfulness in little things. Our faithfulness is seen by how we handle little things.  Jesus said, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much” (Lk. 16:10). Jesus used our care for material things to illustrate how we will care for spiritual things.

2) Faithful servants. Oh, how faithfulness is needed in the church of Christ. Faithfulness is a matter of loyalty to Christ. The “faithful and wise servant” is loyal to his lord, honestly fulfilling his duties as a servant, even when his master is not personally present to oversee his work (Matt. 24:45-47).

God sees and knows what we say and do. If we are unfaithful (unreliable, negligent, disloyal, and disobedient) servants, we will receive eternal punishment when we face our Master (Matt. 24:48-51). Let us be faithful to God and fulfill the tasks He gives us in His house, the church (1 Cor. 4:2; Rom. 12:3-8; cf. Gaius, 3 Jno. 5-8).

3) Faithfulness in families. Consider what a difference it would make in the world if faithfulness were in every home. What if every husband and every wife were loyal to each other and each could totally trust the other to be faithful to the interests and welfare of their marriage? The number of sinfully broken homes would evaporate. What God has joined together would stay together (Matt. 19:3-6). Millions of parents and children would not face the emotional, financial, and spiritual devastations of divorce. The positive impact on society would be tremendous. The effects of unfaithfulness on the family are profound, including infidelity, child and spousal abuse, selfishness, poverty, neglect, and chaos (1 Pet. 3:1-2, 5-7; Eph. 5:22-33).

4) Faithfulness at work. Faithfulness on the job is required of the Christian; he works with “all good fidelity” (Tit. 2:9-10). Here, the Christian’s faithfulness is contrasted with insubordination, abusive confrontation, and stealing from his master. A Christian who is trustworthy at work beautifies the gospel (v. 10). When he is unfaithful on the job, he tarnishes his name and dishonors the name of Christ.

5) Faithful when tempted to sin. We need faithfulness to resist temptations. Withstanding temptation is accomplished through faith (1 Pet. 5:8-9; 1:6-9; 1 Jno. 5:4).

Being faithful calls for all our energy to be directed toward heaven in everything we do (Col. 3:1-3). Faithfulness keeps us deliberate and diligent in meeting our duties to the Lord (Heb. 6:11-12). Obedience to Christ reflects our faithful to Him, and assures the victory of faith, eternal life (Lk. 17:5-10; Rev. 17:14; Heb. 10:36-39). 

-Reprint (edited, JRP)
The Spirit’s Sword, 3/22/2009