Smorgasbord Tuesday: Fruit of the Spirit Faithfulness

This week's fruit of the spirit is faithfulness. I feel that I have a grasp of understanding about this fruit because of my husband. This month we will be married 8 years and we dated for 8 years, so we've been together for 16 years. During our wedding ceremony it was mentioned that one of my favorite qualities of Josh was his faithfulness. That quality still remains one of my favorite quality traits of him. If you have the opportunity to become Josh's friend you have made a friend for life. It doesn't matter if you turn your back on him, or reject him, he will remain faithful to you despite of you because his faithfulness is not dependent upon who you are but it is dependent upon who he is.

Because of this amazing quality trait in my husband I think I am able to have a greater understanding of the faithfulness of God.

2 Timothy 2:13
If we are faithless,

He will remain faithful,

for He cannot disown himself.

God's faithfulness to us is not dependent upon who we are but it is dependent upon His character. We can know without a doubt that God will never abandon us because it would go against His character, who He is, to do that. It has nothing to do with me or my faithfulness but it has everything to do with Him.

I feel blessed to be married to a man that has a genuine character trait of faithfulness. Now I know Josh is a human being, but I have no fears or qualms of him ever being unfaithful to me because I know it would go against the core of who he is. His being unfaithful would require him not only to breech our relationship but it would also require him to go against a core part of himself. Being in a relationship with someone who has a character trait of faithfulness does several things for you. One thing it does is it removes fear. I don't have to worry about what he is doing and I do not have to worry about our future together . I also don't have to try to be a certain way in order to keep his affections on me and me alone. Another thing faithfulness does it creates an atmosphere for trust. I can trust Josh and I can trust the activities that he is doing even when I'm not around because he has promised to be faithful.

I hope this description of my husband gives you a clearer understanding of God and His faithfulness. When we get a grasp of God's faithfulness towards us it will set us free to be ourselves. His love and commitment to us has nothing to do with who we are but has everything to do with who He is. He will not disown us, because to do so would cause Him to disown Himself. So we don't have to live in fear of losing God's faithfulness towards us and we don't have to try to be somebody else in order to keep His affections on us. He loves us just the way we are and He always will. When you remove this fear of abandonment trust can fill its place. If you truly believe that God will always be faithful to you and will never abandon you then you can trust Him through whatever circumstance you find yourself in. There may be times when you think He has left you, or that He is no where to be found. You don't have to fear though that He has given up on you, or found someone else to care about and so now He has no time for you anymore. Instead, you can trust that He has your best interest in mind, and even though you maybe can't see Him at the moment He is caring for you because He alone is the Faithful and True One (Revelation 19:11).

Reflect this week on the faithfulness of God to you. As always, I believe when you grasp the character of God not only in your head but in your heart it will begin to flow out of you naturally to others.

Finally, if fear and abandonment have been a part of your life story I truly believe God desires to speak to that wounded place in your heart. He has promised to never leave you or forsake you. He is asking for you to give Him the broken places of your heart and allow Him to move in them. Do not draw back in fear but let the Great Physician take the wounded places and breathe His life into them.