Unfortunately, faithfulness does not seem to be seen as important in our world and even in our churches today. Hallmark has a card that fits the mood of our time by saying, “I can’t promise you forever, but I can promise you today.” That’s about as deep a commitment as some are willing to make.
Many different studies that have compared the lives of Christians and those who don’t know the Lord have shown that there is relatively little difference. All too often what should be a natural expression of the Spirit’s work in our lives is sadly missing. Our lives as believers should be different because we have God living in us.
So, what is faithfulness? It’s the concept of living the truth of God’s message in our lives. It’s committing ourselves to Jesus Christ and then letting the reality of that faith permeate our lives on a daily basis. It’s being faithful to the life God has called us to. In a practical way it’s the quality of being true, trustworthy and reliable in our dealings with others. It’s the characteristic of doing what we know we should even when it’s not easy.
This is the trait that William Carey demonstrated when he asked his friend John Williams to pray for him after serving eight years in India with few visible results. He needed encouragement and asked, “Pray for us that we may be faithful to the end.” This type of attitude isn’t nearly as common as you might think, even among Christians, but it should be.
The truth is that faithfulness is remaining committed to doing right even when you feel like giving up. I love the way Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church has defined faithfulness.He writes:
“Faithfulness means you stick to a commitment after the shine wears off… Faithfulness means you keep saying no a thousand times if you must to the temptation of cutting a corner and taking the easy way out… Faithfulness means you refuse to jump ship even when the waves of adversity are splashing over the decks of your marriage, your relationship with your children… or your relationship with others. Faithfulness means you stay true to your relationship with Jesus Christ no matter what it costs you.”
That’s what it means to be faithful.
How would you define faithfulness? How are you living out the fruit of faithfulness?
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Great post! I like Hybel's description.
Great post and great quote. Thanks Kevin. (my views on faithfulness are written in my post for today)
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Wow great post Kevin. It definitely is hard to stay the course when hit with adversity. Like Jason, my brief thoughts on faithfulness are in my post today, and it is similar to your thoughts.
As a side note, I have been faithful to my old car even though the shine has worn off but just recentely it decided to throw in the towel. It's finally time for the minivan purchase.
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Great post, Kevin. Faithfulness requires hard work and faith. Almost overwhelming, but definitely worth it in the end.
After the lights are turned off, the stage darkened, and the cameras have all gone home, then it's faithfulness. Good post, Kevin.
I love that quote and agree that is truly faithfulness.
On occasion I'll question why God doesn't just give us ALL the answers… to make it easier to believe and get others to believe. Then I realized having faith is an important part of our relationship with Him.
Hope that makes sense…
Love this.
At the end you ask how I would define faithfulness…Faith is being sure and certain of who our God is, what he has done for us, and what he is doing and can do through us.
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Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." It's interesting that one of the fruits of the spirit is faithfulness. So if we aren't faithful, what does that say about us as Christians? And are we truly Christians if we aren't faithful?
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I must admit that I'm more in tuned with Buddhism than Christianity, but this post reminded me of something a Christian friend asked the other day: What would God value more, the choice to believe in Him or blind faith … in other words, what is faith worth if you never question it?
I found it pretty interesting as I've never heard of questioning faith, or lack thereof all together, as a positive attribute in the Christian community — what do you guys think?
There must be different degree of faith — do you think making the choice to believe is more powerful than never questioning?
As for faithfulness, I think that regardless of religious point of view, being faithful is like being passionate — how do you explain it really? It's something in your spirit; something that defines you.
And just wondering what you mean about this:
"Our lives as believers should be different because we have God living in us."
Why?
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Thanks for sharing Jenny!
Thanks Brett!
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Faithfulness does have its limits in some cases!
Thanks again for your awesome guest post! I am still getting hits from it!
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Thanks Dusty!
Great definition of faithfulness!
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It totally makes sense Bridget because I can totally relate!
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Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts Christopher.
I totally agree with your friend. Christianity is NOT a blind faith. I am reading a great book right now called "Faith & Doubt" by John Ortberg. I highly recommend it!
In regards to my statement that you mentioned, this is what I mean: God is in the business of transforming lives. As we grow in our understanding of Him and grow in our love for Him and others, we will be different!
I hope you stop by again!
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Thanks Glynn!
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Thanks for sharing Michelle!
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Thanks Jason!
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Thanks Janet!
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"after the shine wears off"____sooo true… how many of us have shipwrecked our attempts at faithfulness on a more shiny rock than the one we already have…