Fruit Of The Spirit Sports Devotional Sample

Leader's Guide Lesson 8: Faithfulness 

Theme:  

Faithfulness is persistently seeking and following God, which is essential to staying close to God and being a witness to others.

Coaches' Notes: 

Faithfulness is closely tied to loyalty. At first glance, it’s hard to see how this fruit of the Spirit benefits us in a world that is anything but loyal. It’s become very rare for an employee to stay with a company long-term. This is, in part, because of unfaithful companies, and, in part, because of unfaithful employees. Does loyalty even matter anymore?

I’d argue that in a world where it’s so hard to find faithfulness and loyalty, it’s even more important that Christians be able to find faithfulness and loyalty in God. God has always been loyal and faithful to us. He created us for a purpose. He pursues and stays with us. He knows what is best for us. He loves us enough to send His Son to die for us. And He repeatedly promises that He will never leave nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31.6, 8; Joshua 1.5). In Hebrews 13.5, God plainly promises: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Never leave. Never forsake. Always faithful. Always loyal.

If God is always faithful to us, our response should be faithfulness to Him. Why would we even consider offering our loyalty to anything else? Nothing else can be counted on all the time. No one else can be counted on to never leave us, no matter what our circumstances may be. As a Christian, it would be crazy not to be faithful to the all-powerful, all-loving, all-knowing God of the universe who is faithful and loyal to us all the time.

And when we are faithful and loyal to God, not only are we trusting the God of the universe, but we are setting an example for others as to how and why we follow Him.

Discussion Questions: 

Ask the players who they can trust the most in life. I assume for most of them, it is a parent or parents. Without dissing parents, I’d introduce the concept that even parents aren’t perfect or there all the time. Then read some verses contrasting how perfect, all-knowing, and all-powerful God is. As a result, God is worthy of our loyalty and faithfulness.

Discussion:

Faithfulness doesn’t exactly mean simply having faith. If it was, then every Christian would be faithful all the time. But we aren’t. Faithfulness means faith that is ongoing and persistent. Its synonym is loyalty.

Loyalty is hard to find today. Think about friendships. Friends who come and go, friends who are nice when certain kids are not around them? There are plenty of those. But friends who are loyal — who are nice all the time, who are there for you when you need them? Those are much harder to find (and much better to have).

Faithfulness, which is a fruit of the Spirit, involves loyalty. Loyalty to whom? To God. Sticking with God all the time. Remaining loyal to His commands and what He wants for us. Faith in God that is ongoing and persisting. Why is this so important? Not just a one-time faith, but a persisting, ongoing, loyal faith. There are at least three reasons.  This is why in Revelation 22.13, Jesus (God) could say “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” 

Second, God is faithful (loyal) to us. The Father loves us enough to send His Son to die for us (John 3.16). Once we accept that love from God, the least we can do is be faithful to Him in return.

Third, faithfulness is a strong witness that draws others nearer to God. When others see our loyalty to God — rather than trying to be popular or acting differently depending on who is looking — people take note. This provides us opportunities to tell others “the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3.15b).