The Fruit of Faithfulness
In our world today, faithfulness is a rare character trait. People walk away from spouses they have been married to for decades. Millennials are characterized by their flakiness and fear of commitment. Children are growing up in single-parent homes because fathers have not answered the call to biblical manhood and responsibility. Faithfulness is rare indeed.
Why is faithfulness so hard to find? I believe it is because we are bombarded by lies that tell us that life is all about us. In a culture driven by selfies, likes, and followers, we are constantly told that we need to look out for ourselves and no one else. And when our actions are driven by selfishness, how can we be faithful?
Our Heavenly Father shows us the greatest love of all through His faithfulness. When I think about faithfulness, I remember a God who has never left or forsaken me. I think about how when I was still a sinner, He sent His Son to die for me so that I would not know His wrath but instead His unfailing love (Romans 5:8). The call to faithfulness goes hand in hand with the call to obedience. A life marked by faithfulness and obedience is set apart from the lives of those around us who do not walk with Jesus.
As followers of Christ, we have been given the greatest gift of all—new life through the resurrection of Jesus. Our Heavenly Father saw fit to give us what we do not deserve by sending His Son to die a brutal death on the cross so we could know His love and walk in freedom. And what is even crazier is that He does not just save us to give us a pass to heaven. Instead, He saves us and then walks alongside us with patience and kindness, making us more and more like Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). He constantly reveals Himself to us through His Word. He surrounds us with others in His Body who are seeking to walk faithfully as well.
Faithfulness does not give up when trials and difficulties come. Faithfulness does not throw in the towel when the energy and motivation to keep going is gone. Faithfulness persists and pursues. Faithfulness is constant. Jesus is the personification of faithfulness, as evidenced by His great love for us on the cross. On the road to the cross, He constantly prayed to the Father for strength and was determined to obey to the end. Philippians tells us that Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). Our greatest example of faithfulness is found in the person of Jesus Christ.
When we choose to be faithful as followers of Christ, people will take notice. Faithfulness is radical. If we truly want others to encounter the love of Christ, we will walk faithfully. But what does that look like? It may mean staying at a difficult job and working at it wholeheartedly. Maybe it means you don’t bash your husband or significant other when they aren’t around and everyone else is “venting.” It could mean that you take that step and sign up for classes to become a foster parent.
Walking in obedience by listening to the Father will naturally produce in us a spirit of faithfulness. And when we walk in faithfulness, people will take note. When people notice what’s different in our lives set apart for His glory, we have the privilege and joy of pointing them to our faithful Heavenly Father.
This article was originally published through Well Watered Women.