Titus 2:6–14 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. 9 Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
The fruit of the Spirit referred to as "faithfulness" in Galatians 5:22 means "the state of being someone in whom complete confidence can be placed—trustworthiness, dependability, faithfulness" (Louw & Nida, Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament). As such, it is an expression which is used several times in connection with the Lord Himself. We also have it in our text above, where bondslaves are to be urged to show all "good faith" so that they might adorn the Gospel.
The text does not link this directly to prayer, though we know that the Spirit is given in answer to prayer and He produces this fruit in the children of God. Nevertheless, see how Paul equates the demonstration of characteristics such as faithfulness with living a life which adorns the Gospel (decorates it, is an outward testimony of the truth of it) - the sensible, righteous and godly life of those who have been purified in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a life that we are urged to live in this text and elsewhere in Scripture.
It is hardly to be expected that believers would grow in faithfulness as a matter of course, by the mere passage of time and with no expenditure of effort on their part. Yet what form should the effort take, whose end result is an increase in the characteristic of trustworthiness and dependability - which was so admirably modeled for us by our Savior? One certain path we may take to achieve this goal is to pray. We do not want to be poor ornaments to the Gospel, surely - those who detract from it rather than increasing its attractiveness? Accordingly, let us pray this week that we may grow in this fruit of faithfulness, may adorn the Gospel fittingly and may bring glory to our Lord Jesus Christ!
