The next fruit in this sequence is faithfulness

The next fruit in this sequence is faithfulness, translated from the Greek word pistis, which means, "assurance, belief, fidelity, and constancy." Paul also uses this term in 1 Timothy 6:11 and 2 Timothy 2:22. Pistis occurs 237 times in the New Testament. Only nine times do we translate the word faith from other Greek words. Among these few exceptions, the most notable would be the Greek word oligopistos, which means "lacking confidence or faith." Faithfulness introduces us to the last group of three fruits.

Leaders exhibit this fruit in many ways. To begin with, they are dependable. Employees and superiors both know that they can trust leaders who operate by spiritual principles to complete a task. Employees and superiors know that these leaders stay for the long haul. W. E. Deming included "too much mobility of leadership" as one of his seven deadly sins for United States leaders. Deming believed that there is too little loyalty among leaders toward their firms. Leaders who live by spiritual principles stay with a firm until God calls them to leave.

Leaders exhibit this fruit by showing belief in employees. Leaders following spiritual principles know when employees are ready for more responsibility and encourage employees to excel in the new areas. There is a sense of encouragement and equipping that pervades a firm led by spiritually principled leaders.

Meekness (A leader relating to another individual) Paul uses the Greek word praotes, which comes from the root word praus implying controlled discipline as we saw in The Beatitudes. Praotes also translates as "gentleness." We again see the circular entwining of the essence of the fruits. Leaders exhibit this fruit by controlling their organizational strength and using only what is necessary to accomplish the task. No one would accuse a spiritually principled leader of "throwing his or her weight around."

Employees would see examples of meekness in the leader during times of correction and rebuke. The meek leader corrects employees when necessary, but does so in a way that causes the employee to grow. Unprincipled leaders correct people in hurtful ways that leave emotional scars on the employee. Other employees can recognize the meek leader by how the leader works with other departments. The meek leader does not threaten or demand, but rather negotiates for cooperation in a way that builds goodwill and seeks peace in the organization.

The last fruit is temperance, also called "self-control." From the Greek word, egkrateia, we translate "self-control" or "temperance." Egkrateia comes from the root word egkrates meaning "self-controlled in appetite" or "being temperate." I see this character in a leader who exhibits self-control in actions and words. This ties well into the idea of meekness being controlled discipline.

Leaders exhibiting this fruit would not seek to hoard resources or spend unnecessarily at the end of a budget cycle just to ensure money in the budget for the next cycle, but rather would seek to use resources for the greatest good of the organization. I believe leaders would exhibit this characteristic by being controlled in their personal lives, controlling the amount they eat and drink, and the amount of time spent in any one activity. Thus, a self-controlled leader is balanced in their approach to life.

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