Fruit of the Spirit - Faithfulness Part 3

Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT) 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!


Today we complete our look at chapter ten – Following Through in Faithfulness in the book “A Woman’s Walk with God” by Elizabeth George. It is a study of the Fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit is…faithfulness. Galatians 5:22

“A great source of encouragement to be faithful is found in the extraordinary faithfulness of the women at the tomb. These dear women had faithfully ministered to the needs of the Savior by serving Him and financially supporting His ministry (Luke 8:3). But their most heroic act of faithfulness began as they followed Jesus on His last journey from Galilee to Jerusalem – on His journey to the cross, a journey that finally found this loyal band of ladies with Jesus the entire day of His crucifixion and death.”

We read how the disciples disbursed and did not hang around. Yet the women remained faithful and stood as close as they could to comfort Jesus by their presence in the closing agonies of the crucifixion (Luke 23:49). They stayed until the end. “And their faithfulness did not end with Jesus’ death. They waited at the cross to see what was done with His body, and then they followed and saw the tomb and how His body was laid (Luke 23:55). Then, surely weary after a long and agonizing day, these women returned home to perform two more acts of faithfulness. First, they prepared spices and perfumes to properly anoint Jesus’ body (verse 56). (And, according to Jewish Sabbath law, these preparations had to be completed before sundown!) And then these women practiced their faithfulness in another way: ‘On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment’ (verse 56). They were faithful to Jesus, and they were faithful to God and His holy Law.”

Mark 16:1-3
“And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, brought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?’”

These women were indeed faithful. They weren’t lazy. They went to the tomb very early. They didn’t procrastinate. They did what they needed to do when they needed to do it. They didn’t rationalize that someone else would do it. No, they went about preparing to anoint Jesus’ body. They sure didn’t have apathy. They cared greatly for Jesus and what would happen to His body. And they definitely did not operate in rebellion.

The author states “Whenever I’m exhausted, stretched to the limit, and tempted to give up or wait until tomorrow, I think of these magnificent women. Their love for God overruled their emotional and physical tendencies and enabled them to faithfully do the right thing. Nothing kept these ladies from fulfilling what they considered to be their faithful duty to a friend.”

“We must respond! We must wonder, how can we become more faithful? How can we walk in this grace, too? What can help us to cultivate God’s faithfulness in our life?”

The author gives us a few practical suggestions.

1. Call upon God in prayer. “On the day I called Thou didst answer me: Thou didst make me bold with strength in my soul” (Psalm 138;3).

2. Be faithful in small things. “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much” (Luke 16:10).

3. Rely of God’s strength. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phillippians 4:13).

4. Fight self-indulgence. “I buffet my body and make it my slave” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

5. Eliminate laziness and idleness. “[She] does not eat the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31:27).

6. Begin at home. “She looks well to the ways of her household” (Proverbs 31:27).

7. Be faithful in all things. “Women must…be…faithful in all things” (1 Timothy 3:11).

8. Become a ‘hero.’

Here is a thought provoking question the author asks at the end of chapter ten:

Think back through your week. List any instances at home, in your relationships, or in ministry when you were unfaithful, when you proved unworthy of the confidence placed in you, when you didn’t follow through on your commitments and responsibilities.

Let’s pray. Father, we think You for all that we have learned over the last few days on faithfulness – our faithfulness to You and our faithfulness to others. Give us strength to combat the struggles that will rise as we grow in faithfulness. Help us to be more like the women at the tomb, faithful until the very end, never giving up. Thank You Father. We love and appreciate You. We declare that there is none like You! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Blessings,