Harvesting the Fruit of Faith

“But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness,
faith,
Meekness temperance:
against such there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23

Have you ever wondered what it means to have faith? As Christians, faith plays a big part in our lives. It’s how we accept Christ as our Savior, follow His ways, and endure through difficulties. It’s what we are instructed to share with others. Faith is essential for living, which is why it’s so important that we know who or what our faith is based on. The faith we will look at here is another fruit of God’s Holy Spirit. Galatians 5 teaches that if we are walking in the Spirit, we will not live according to the affections and lusts of the flesh. Instead, we’ll harvest faith in life’s garden.

Let’s consider what this fruit of faith is. It is defined in the Greek this way:

Faith – Greek – #4102. –  pistis

from 3982; persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, constancy in such profession; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself:– (Strong’s Concordance)

This fruit of God’s Spirit is a beautiful expression of our relationship to our Creator. It defines us as believers. It shows what we are persuaded by, give credence to, and have a moral conviction of, and who we rely on for our salvation.

If we have accepted that we are sinners (Romans 3:23) in need of a Savior (Titus 2), have believed in Jesus, (Romans 10) and accepted God’s gift (John 3:16), this faith is available to us in every season of life.

However, it doesn’t stop there. We’re instructed to continue to nurture this crop.

Adding to Our Faith

Notice what 2 Peter teaches us. We’re to give “all diligence” to adding more characteristics to our faith:

“And beside this, giving all diligence,
add to your faith
virtue; and to virtue,
knowledge; And to knowledge
temperance; and to temperance
patience; and to patience
godliness; And to godliness
brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness
charity.
2 Peter 1:5-7

Earnestly Contending for Our Faith

To reap a healthy harvest, we have to “earnestly contend” for our crop. Persecution and pestilence will try to destroy our faith and we must fight to protect it.

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation,
it was needful for me to write unto you,
and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith
which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude 1:3

“Above all, taking the shield of faith,
wherewith ye shall be able to quench
all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
Ephesians 6:16

Growing in Our Faith

When we add to, and contend for our faith, we will grow spiritually. Wouldn’t it be great if our faith was so sound and strong that what is said in the following verses could be said of us too?

“We are bound to thank God
always for you, brethren, as it is meet,
because that your faith groweth exceedingly,
and the charity of every one of you all
toward each other aboundeth.”
 2 Thessalonians 1:3

 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all,
that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.”
Romans 1:8

Our faith shows the world who and what we believe.

Bring It Home

Are you seeing God’s fruit of faith in your garden?

Praying for you as we grow together,

Smiles, BRC