Rev. Johnson V.
14th February 2010

Galatians 5:22 (KJV) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith….”

One of the signs of God’s Presence in us, is our faith. Some translations of the Bible, use the word ‘faithfulness’ instead of ‘faith’.  Both terms essentially mean the same thing. The term ‘faith’ describes our belief and trust in God. The term ‘faithfulness’ is faith lived out in our daily lives; it is an indication of how we interpret our trust in God as we live our lives and face different situations. Faith results in a changed lifestyle and that’s where faithfulness comes in. We ought to be faithful because God is faithful. He is our reference point; our standard and our measurement of how faithful we ought to be. God created us with the ability to be faithful. He has already counted us faithful – He trusts us to be faithful. He has credited faithfulness to us and we only need to carry the account forward.

As children of the Living God, we need to be faithful in the following areas:-

1. Faithful in our interpersonal relationships - Malachi 2:14 - God puts a value to the commitments and covenants that we make. He was a witness when we made those commitments and covenants. We prove our faithfulness by staying committed to them. Sometimes despite our efforts, covenants are broken. The Bible says in Revelation 2:1 -2, that God is watching our efforts and not just the end results. He will reward us accordingly.
2. Faithful in all things – with our time, money and efforts - The Bible tells us to do all things with all our strength, in all sincerity. We are called to be faithful in the way we make money. If we make money by compromising our obedience to His Word, we are living by laws of the corrupt world. We will ultimately reap the rewards of the corrupt world. If we want Biblical rewards, we must live by God’s standards. Malachi 3:10; Hebrews 7:6; 1 John 3:12 all show us that there are no shortcuts to how we can receive His rewards. 
3. Faithful to the Church – Psalm 27:4 - We must be faithful in God’s house, the Church. The following describes what our attitude to the House of God, should be.
   •  Our primary objective in coming to church must be a burning desire to see more of the wonder that He is; to hear of His goodness. 
   • We must come with an attitude and dependence on God; to enquire of Him believing that He knows all things.
   • We must come to church in order to bring our pain and hurt to Him. Isaiah 37:14 tells of how King Hezekiah spread out his problem before God. God has a solution for every problem that we bring Him, as long as we earnestly and diligently seek Him.

The following are attitudes we must avoid in the House of God.

1. Jude 16 – we are called to stay away from grumblers; faultfinders; who boast of themselves and seek men’s admiration only.
2. Mathew 18:7 – we must not take offense easily. As long as we are interacting with human beings, we are bound to face criticism or flak for doing something, even though it was with the best intentions. Even though facing offending situations is a certainty in the House of God, we must learn to overthrow the power of the evil one by not being offended or letting a negative spirit grow in us.

What are the rewards of being faithful in the House of God?

1. Psalm 92:13 – we will flourish in the house of God. We will flourish whenever the presence of God is (which is everywhere).
2. Psalm 23:6 – goodness and mercy will follow us throughout our lives.
3. 1 Corinthians 12:23 and Hebrews 13:7 – though we are different members, we are united in one body in Christ. We will bring glory to God. We must obey those in leadership in the Church. 
4. Mark 10:28-30 – we are assured of blessings not only in heaven, but also on earth.

Living a life of faithfulness is to live a life that is in accordance to God’s standards. It is to be honest even when we can be dishonest, and not just because He is watching us, but because we love Him and want to serve and please Him. Faithfulness is developed through a deep relationship with our Maker. If we are faithful, He will also be faithful to us. The Bible promises us in Mathew 25:23, that God will increase us. He that is faithful in little, will be made faithful over much.