The Seventh Fruit: Faithfulness

We live in a world where faithfulness is not rewarded. The word used in the Greek means a proof, guarantee, or a pledge. When is the last time you saw a company reward their members for their commitment to them? You don’t see that anymore. Instead of rewarding their faithful customers company’s reward “new” customers. Switch today and we will send you 6 new phones, a gift card for $500, and a new puppy. While your call in to customer service about you bill ends with sadness and disappointment. Companies have lost the idea of Faithfulness. Companies though are not the only ones that have lost their Faithfulness, how about marriages in our country? In the US the divorce rate is somewhere between 40-50%. The commitment to a spouse or another person is gone. 74% of that 40-50% state that they are Christians. Of the 40-50% of people being divorced in America 3 quarters of them are Christians! This is a problem! Marriage is not the only thing where we lack faithfulness in our Country, how about with our commodities? It used to be that when you signed a contract, you stuck it out and made the best of it, not anymore. Now we live in a world of month to month subscriptions. The idea of committing to something for the long term is outdated. With all of this in mind I would say that the world could use a look at what Faithfulness looks like and that should come from the church. Turn with me in your Bible to Lamentations 3:22-25

Lamentations 3:22–25 ESV

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

As we dive into the Scripture today It is my prayer that you will see 3 aspects of the Faithfulness of God that we must adopt in our relationships. Faithfulness is eternal, Faithfulness is forgiving, Faithfulness shown in time

Faithfulness is Committed Eternally

The faithfulness we are called to is an eternal faithfulness. Not a faithfulness that says as long as we are happy we can remain faithful.

Lamentations 3:22 ESV

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;

Just like God’s faithfulness for us we are called to a Faithfulness without end. What does this mean for your relationships? We live today in a culture that is constantly looking for a way out. You know what I am talking about. Married people are looking for the “thing” their spouse will do to justify their leaving. People are looking for ways out of paying back debts that they signed up for. Have you ever started to help someone but then realized that it was going to take more commitment then you are willing to put in? We are OK with talking with someone as long as it is not inconvenient to what we want to do. We will bless others as long as it does not cut into what we want to do. We are willing to start the process of building relationships but not very committed to being faithful in them. Christians should be marked by an eternal faithfulness to the people around us, the things we commit to doing. We should have an eternal view of things that draws us to commit fully to all things we are involved in. What does the Bible say about commitment?

First lets see the commitment of God

Genesis 15:9–21 ESV

9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

God made a commitment to Abraham that his decedents would inhabit the Land that that God Himself would rescue them. Now watch this!

There would be a point where God wanted to because of the sin of the people to undo His commitment. Are there times where we want to give up on our commitments? Absolutely but those who are Faithful will follow the example of our God.

Exodus 32:9–14 ESV

9 And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.” 11 But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

God relented from destroying His people and moving forward with Moses. It was for His glory that He relented. When you are faced with commitments that are becoming difficult to carry on with we must remember that it is for the Glory of God that we continue on. It is so others may see God in us and Glorify Him in Heaven. Marriages should be commited, contracts should be kept. We are called to be marked by our commitment to Glorify God by keeping our commitments eternally. God continued to keep His commitment and delivered His only Son to the Cross to keep the commitment. When it was its most difficult God was Faithful. We so often times leave our commitments because things get tough. Does it get any tougher than having to sacrifice your child?

Norman Geisler one of the greatest Theologians of the 1900s would share the following story.

Norman Geisler, as a child, went to a DVBS because he was invited by some neighbor children. He went back to the same church for Sunday School classes for 400 Sundays. Each week he was faithfully picked up by a bus driver. Week after week he attended church, but never made a commitment to Christ. Finally, during his senior year in High School, after being picked up for church over 400 times, he did commit his life to Christ. What if that bus driver had given up on Geisler at 395? What if the bus driver had said, "This kid is going nowhere spiritually, why waste any more time on him?"

It was an eternal commitment that kept the bus driver going. Our Faithfulness must match that of God’s and be eternal. No end. Not only should our Faithfulness be committed to the eternal it must also be continually forgiving.

Faithfulness is Continually Forgiving

The Faithfulness of God causes Him to forgive us every day. We are called to do the same. New Mercies every day

Lamentations 3:23 ESV

23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

For our Faithfulness to be the same as the Faithfulness that God shows us we must be able to continually forgive. The scripture states that the Mercies of God are new every morning. We awake every day to a God who loves us and stands ready with forgiveness.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This scripture does not say if you confess your sin as long as it is not the 100th time God will forgive you. God is continually forgiving us.

Ephesians 4:32 ESV

32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Daniel 9:9 ESV

9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him

Mark 11:25 ESV

25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Colossians 3:13 ESV

13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Luke 17:4 ESV

4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

God is continually forgiving. How many times do we have to forgive each other? There should be no end to our forgiveness. One thing I will point out is that the same measure of forgiveness as you give is the measure you will receive.

I spoke about commitment in marriage earlier. My wife is a wonderful example of commitment in marriage but also of forgiveness. If you have known me for any amount of time you will likely say he is a very nice person but he isn’t always the brightest. Now I don’t say this to demean myself but to stay honest. One thing you can ask my wife is that she has to tell me things over and over before I finally get it. For example she will ask me to place my clothes in the clothes basket that she moved to my side of the bed. What do I do? Yeah you got it I drop my clothes on the floor next to the basket. I am making an effort not to do this anymore and to actually get the clothes into the basket because it aggravates her. She has probably asked me 1000 times and she forgives me every time I do not do it. She also asks me things that I think are a little ridiculous like wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher and she forgives me continuously because I never do.

While this is a funny little example it is exactly the type of thing God goes through with us. He continually asks us to do things and we continually do the opposite. But yet every time you ask for forgiveness He forgives you.

Psalm 103:12 ESV

12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Faithfulness is Committed Eternally, Continuously Forgiving, and concise in timing

Faithfulness is concise in timing

Faithfulness is not always immediately apparent. It may feel like God is not staying faithful but those who wait on the Lord will find His faithfulness never fails

Lamentations 3:24–25 ESV

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

Faithfulness is concise in timing, meaning that God will be there when He knows you need Him. We will go through trials and tribulations, we will be tempted and tried, we will be pushed to our limits but we can rest assured that God will come through. You may not feel like this today. You may be sitting in here this morning saying I cannot take any more, I just cannot do it. Rest in the Lord, Hope in Him, understand that He is near to the broken hearted. We want God to do for us what we think is best for us when we want it, God in His wisdom is there when we need it.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Isaiah 49:8 ESV

8 Thus says the Lord: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages,

Galatians 4:4 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

2 Peter 3:8 ESV

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Ecclesiastes 9:12 ESV

12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

Isaiah 55:8 ESV

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

God’s timing is always perfect. There are 2 parts to this I want you to see. First is for you the Faithfulness of God will not fail! He will be there. If you are at your whits end and you cannot take anymore, rest in Him. The greatest challenge in life is the waiting, the holding on. I can tell you though that those who wait on the Lord will be blessed.

Isaiah 40:31 ESV

31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

The second part is that our Faithfulness should be the same towards others and be concise in time. It is OK to allow people in our life to falter, to fail, to feel what life has for them. Humans in general never learn when we have a constant safety net. Is God always there in time? Absolutely! His time however allows time for us to lead the lives we chose. God will allow you to go your own way and He will allow you to find your way into things that He tells you not to do. He will allow you to walk away, He will always stand ready to come in and be your God. It is OK to allow people in our lives to make mistakes. We spend much of our time trying to be “faithful” but what we are really doing is trying to protect our image. We are afraid that our image will be negatively affected by their poor decisions, so we try to guide them out of those decisions. Notice that God is Faithful in spite of our decisions. Faithfulness has concise timing and is there when it needs to be even if that is after a poor choice. You must be there when people need you, not when you need you to be there for them. Does that make sense? We often times insert ourselves into people’s lives and into their choices to keep ourselves from feeling the pain of their choices. Does it hurt to see your child suffer? Absolutely but is it not better to allow them to suffer a little and learn a consequence then to save them for something more sever when you cannot save them? Faithfulness is concise in its timing.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Many of you know Rylan as the sweet little carbon copy of his brother Camden. Rylan though is the child in our house that is going to do something just because you tell him not too. Rylan will push things to the limit and often times beyond the limit. He does not like the discipline that comes from his choices but almost never stops himself. Granted he is 4 years old but he still knows what he is doing. Rylan is the child that is told do not touch that it is going to hurt you! We will move hot things away from the edges of the counter because he wants to touch it because you said not too. We provide a way for him not to get hurt if he will listen to us. We however have found ourselves at a point where sometimes in a controlled environment we have to let him do what we told him not too and we have to teach him from excuse the phrase his own ignorance. In his ignorance he believes that he knows more than mommy and daddy. We have begun to let him make decisions against what we told him and then we allow him to live the consequences of those decisions. He spends a lot of time in the corner. We are doing our best to help him learn now to listen later because as he gets older the consequences are so much tougher.

Faithfulness is Committed Eternally, Continually Forgiving, and Concise in timing. We must be committed to be faithful to our God, our friends, our families, and anyone else that God puts in our lives. We must be Faithful as God is faithful understanding that it does not mean always stopping people from their consequences but being there when they need us even in spite of their choices. Faithfulness is a commitment, and oath, or a pledge. Is your spirit Faithful in the things you do? Are you looking for a way out of your commitments? Repent of that this morning. Do you believe that God has abandoned you and is not remaining faithful to you? Pray for strength to wait on Him this morning. Pray this morning that God will teach His people to be Faithful in all we do.