This word (pistis) is usually translated “faith” or “trust” throughout the NT. It often refers to trust in God and belief in His promises (Heb. 11:1-6). However, in the fruit of the Spirit, it means something a little different. Paul is contrasting two patterns of behavior toward fellow Christians in Gal 5: those who upset others’ Christian journeys (Gal 5:7-12) versus those who “through love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13-15). Paul says the first group carries out the deeds of the flesh (Gal. 5:16-21) while the second group produces spiritual fruit (Gal. 5:22-24).
In other words, the fruit of the Spirit is all about how we treat other people. “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself ” (Gal. 5:14). This is why most translations interpret pistis in Galatians 5:22 to mean “faithfulness” or “trustworthiness” instead of “faith” or “trust” as in the rest of Galatians.
The two concepts are not disconnected, however. Dishonest people tend to rarely believe what they’re told. Even if we are trustworthy, the lack of others’ reliability teaches us to avoid putting our confidence in people we don’t know. Think about how this idea fits into Paul’s point: When we aren’t honest or don’t follow through with our commitments, we become a stumbling block by training our brothers and sisters to doubt.
Immediately after this section, the apostle tells us: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself ” (Gal. 6:2-3). One of the biggest issues in the church is that Christians don’t lean on one another for support. You want to know why? Because it’s not always safe. “Like an aching tooth and a slipping foot is trust in a treacherous man in a day of distress” (Prov. 25:19). Many Christians stay guarded even around their spiritual family because they’ve learned not to trust them. Perhaps you feel this way yourself. The solution to the lack of pistis (trust) in one another is to be full of pistis (trustworthiness) yourself. “He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, but he who is faithful in spirit conceals a matter” (Prov. 11:13).
God is perfectly reliable. It’s one of His greatest characteristics. God cannot lie. It’s such a big deal, God even swore an oath to make sure we would trust Him (Heb. 6:16- 20). God wants us to be images of Him, honest and reliable.
Jesus instructs us to be truthful with or without an oath, just like God is. “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of the evil one” (Matt. 5:33- 37). Elsewhere Jesus addressed the commonplace use of loopholes to get out of fulfilling obligations (Matt. 23:16-22; Mark 7:9-13). Don’t live your life in loopholes, but with simple honesty, for “he who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much, and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much” (Luke 16:10).
The fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness. Be honest, trustworthy, and reliable. Teach people you know that “true” doesn’t just describe facts, but your character—and God’s.
-Andrew Patterson