Fruit of the Spirit (7): Faithfulness

“The fruit of the Spirit is…FAITHFULNESS”. (Gal 5:22).
Jesus did not ask his followers to be clever or successful, but he did require them to be reliable and trustworthy. So it is not surprising that faithfulness is in the list of the fruit of the Spirit.
Strictly speaking the word in Galatians is “faith” which is one of the most common words in the NT. Modern versions are right to translate it as “faithfulness” because the Greek word includes the idea of fidelity. There is evidence that the English word “faith “ was originally linked to the thought of personal dependability, for the word probably comes from the Anglo-Saxon “feyth,” which has the root meaning “to fasten oneself to.” We fasten ourselves to Christ with the first step of faith and continue with a lifelong faithfulness to him.
The best illustration comes from the OT and shows the faithfulness of Ittai to his king. This happened at the time of the Great Rebellion, when David’s son Absalom led a coup d’etat to force his father from the throne. David has to escape from Jerusalem and once clear of the city David dismisses his men and Ittai comes to him and says, “As the Lord lives, and as the lord my king lives, surely wherever my lord the King may be, whether for death or life, there also your servant will be”. (2 Sam 15:21).
Now that is faithfulness!!