Okay. Let’s get down to it then. How do we begin to demonstrate God’s type of faithfulness in our own lives? What practical steps can we take to begin to develop this fruit in our lives? After all, that is what this project is all about, right?
I have a few thoughts (of course!). I think that for us, faithfulness can be divided into two parts: faithfulness to God and faithfulness to others. They do go hand in hand, but practical development of each part can be different. We are first called to be faithful to God. We as humans tend to be faithful to what we consider important or most valuable. We internalize that and then commit to be responsible to that person or thing. We need to work on making that commitment to God every single day. Emotions have nothing to do with it. We are called to be faithful regardless of how we feel on any given day. So, we need to decide consciously to give God that place of importance in our lives. He is the most important person; He is the most valuable.
Faithfulness is being true to God and not serving other “gods” or putting anything else in the place of God in our lives. We are to save ourselves mentally and emotionally for God first. We are not to stray and put other things, good or bad, in God’s place or in a higher place of importance in our lives. You can tell you are doing this when other things come before things that will further our commitment to or relationship with God. Look at the choices you make throughout your day. Is something else consistently getting in the way of time with God? It can be good things, too!
Anything that comes between me and my relationship with God is an idol. Idols can be bad things or good things. It is not necessarily building a statue to some other “god” in the backyard and bowing down to it. Of course, negative things can be idols, like drugs, drinking, gambling, other harmful habits. But good things can be idols too, and are often harder to spot. Even the best things in our lives can be idols if we allow them to come before our commitment to God. Service to others can be an idol if the needs of the people we are helping or certain projects take a higher position of priority in our lives than our relationship with God. Or even learning more about God can be a sort of idol if we aren’t focused on the right things. For example, I like to read books about faith and about God. But sometimes I find myself more interested in books about God than in the Bible or God himself. It is at that point that learning and those other books become idols to me because my allegiance and interest is focused more on what others have to say about God than on what God Himself is saying to me through His Word. Service projects and reading books about God aren’t bad things at all and can be incredibly valuable in growing spiritually and doing God’s work here on earth, but when we choose things like that over God’s Word. If we begin to trust something or someone more than we trust God, that thing or person becomes an idol to us. This all is not to say to stay away from those things, but we should be constantly analyzing the things in our lives to ensure that they remain in their proper places and we don’t fall into this trap that will ruin our faithfulness to God.
The second part of faithfulness is faithfulness to others in speech and action. We are called to be truthful, dependable, and honorable in our dealings with others. After all, we as Christians, are the faces of God to the world. We need to reflect God’s faithfulness to others by being faithful ourselves. Practical steps might seem obvious, but I’ll state them anyway. Always tell the truth. Always follow through on your commitments and, to help with this, be careful what commitments you take on in the first place through prayerful consideration of each one.
Try to put this into practice into your life and let me know how you are doing. Or, if you have some tips of your own on how to be more faithful, please share!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Faithfulness Part 2
To learn about faithfulness, we need to see how God has demonstrated faithfulness. We need to know the original if we are to follow it! Here are some verses that speak of God’s faithfulness.
It is Limitless and Unending:
Psalm 36:5 – “Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”
Psalm 100:5 – “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.
It is bound together with Love:
Psalm 86:15 – “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
Psalm 117:2 “For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.”
It is our protection:
Psalm 91:4 – “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”
It brings salvation and allows the truth of God to be spread:
Psalm 98:3 – “He has remembered His love and His faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
For us, it is a choice:
Psalm 119:30 – “I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.”
It is a characteristic of the righteous:
Habakkuk 2:4 – “. . . but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness . . .”
If you take the time to search, you will find that the Old Testament is littered with references to and comments on God’s faithfulness. It doesn’t take very long in the Old Testament to see how God was faithful to his people but his people, Israel, were anything but faithful. Time and time again, people have been a disappointment to God. Over and over again, Israel was unfaithful and followed the gods of other cultures around them instead of remaining faithful to the one true God. Yet, each time, we see God rescuing them and pulling them back to Himself. He sent faithful men and women to work on His behalf to rescue Israel. Think of Moses, who led them out of slavery in Egypt. The people rebelled in the desert and were punished, but then God brought Joshua to leadership to bring the people into the promised land. They were successful in battle as long as they were faithful, but as soon as there was peace, the people forgot and submitted themselves to other gods. Every time they did this, there unfaithfulness led to hardship and in that hardship they would cry out to God. Every time they cried out, God sent someone (Judges) to rescue them. God always faithfully responded, no matter how many times His people strayed or disappointed him. He responded faithfully even to the point of sending His one and only Son to die for us. Now that is faithfulness.
I want to try to bring that to our level so that we can begin to understand what that means and maybe grasp a little of what God’s faithfulness is. Think of your kids. Kids get in trouble, no doubt about that, and often disobey in the same way again and again. How many times would you forgive and come running if they called out to you in dismay? Is it unlimited? I can tell you, I can’t think of a point at which I would fail to come to my children if they truly needed me. That is how God feels about us. He will remain faithful no matter what. It doesn’t depend on us. It is His nature. Can you see what a great gift that is for us? We are by nature prone to unfaithfulness and to straying from God, but God is by His nature faithful with an unending faithfulness that will always take back a repentant heart and draw that person back to Him. Praise God for this! Take the time right now to really think about this and to praise God for this amazing gift.
Not only is God’s faithfulness towards us unending, but He is willing to teach us how to be faithful. He is willing to lead us along that path so that we can have that same faithfulness. In fact, this is one of His heart’s desires, that we should show the same fruit that is to Him a natural thing. We are to reflect Him and He wants to help us do it. Amazing. Amazing love. Amazing help. Amazing patience. Amazing faithfulness. Amazing.
It is Limitless and Unending:
Psalm 36:5 – “Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”
Psalm 100:5 – “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.
It is bound together with Love:
Psalm 86:15 – “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
Psalm 117:2 “For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.”
It is our protection:
Psalm 91:4 – “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”
It brings salvation and allows the truth of God to be spread:
Psalm 98:3 – “He has remembered His love and His faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
For us, it is a choice:
Psalm 119:30 – “I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.”
It is a characteristic of the righteous:
Habakkuk 2:4 – “. . . but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness . . .”
If you take the time to search, you will find that the Old Testament is littered with references to and comments on God’s faithfulness. It doesn’t take very long in the Old Testament to see how God was faithful to his people but his people, Israel, were anything but faithful. Time and time again, people have been a disappointment to God. Over and over again, Israel was unfaithful and followed the gods of other cultures around them instead of remaining faithful to the one true God. Yet, each time, we see God rescuing them and pulling them back to Himself. He sent faithful men and women to work on His behalf to rescue Israel. Think of Moses, who led them out of slavery in Egypt. The people rebelled in the desert and were punished, but then God brought Joshua to leadership to bring the people into the promised land. They were successful in battle as long as they were faithful, but as soon as there was peace, the people forgot and submitted themselves to other gods. Every time they did this, there unfaithfulness led to hardship and in that hardship they would cry out to God. Every time they cried out, God sent someone (Judges) to rescue them. God always faithfully responded, no matter how many times His people strayed or disappointed him. He responded faithfully even to the point of sending His one and only Son to die for us. Now that is faithfulness.
I want to try to bring that to our level so that we can begin to understand what that means and maybe grasp a little of what God’s faithfulness is. Think of your kids. Kids get in trouble, no doubt about that, and often disobey in the same way again and again. How many times would you forgive and come running if they called out to you in dismay? Is it unlimited? I can tell you, I can’t think of a point at which I would fail to come to my children if they truly needed me. That is how God feels about us. He will remain faithful no matter what. It doesn’t depend on us. It is His nature. Can you see what a great gift that is for us? We are by nature prone to unfaithfulness and to straying from God, but God is by His nature faithful with an unending faithfulness that will always take back a repentant heart and draw that person back to Him. Praise God for this! Take the time right now to really think about this and to praise God for this amazing gift.
Not only is God’s faithfulness towards us unending, but He is willing to teach us how to be faithful. He is willing to lead us along that path so that we can have that same faithfulness. In fact, this is one of His heart’s desires, that we should show the same fruit that is to Him a natural thing. We are to reflect Him and He wants to help us do it. Amazing. Amazing love. Amazing help. Amazing patience. Amazing faithfulness. Amazing.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Faithfulness
The next “fruit” we should see in our Christian lives is faithfulness. According to Dictionary.com, faithfulness means each of the following:
(1) “strict or thorough in the performance of duty”;
(2) “true to one’s word, promises, vows, etc.”;
(3) “steady in allegiance or affection, loyal, constant”;
(4) “reliable, trusted, or believed”;
(5) “adhering or true to fact, a standard, or an original; accurate.”
So what does this tell us about the faithfulness we are to have in our own lives? I see in these definitions that faithfulness is being true to God and to others. It means pledging our allegiance to God and God alone, being loyal to Him in all we say and do. It means fulfilling our responsibilities as Christians and doing what we know we are supposed to do. Not just doing it, but doing it thoroughly.
But there are two other specific things that I see in this definition. The first is in definition (4). Faithfulness has everything to do with trust. Faithfulness is the foundation upon which trust is built. If we are not faithful, not dependable, then trust cannot and will not follow. Faithfulness holds all the other fruits in its hands. You can excel at love, at joy, at peace, at patience, at any of the other fruits, but if you are not faithful in executing them, then it doesn’t really matter that you are good at any one of them. Think about that for a minute. This thing between God and us is a relationship and relationships are built on trust. God has proven Himself faithful (we’ll get to that Scripture in the next entry). Have we proven ourselves faithful to Him? He wants us to be true, steadfast, reliable, and trusted. All of those things add up to the fruit of faithfulness that we are commanded to have in our lives.
A true example of this type of faithfulness can be found in the person of Ruth. In Ruth chapter 1, Ruth finds herself a widow caring for her also-widowed mother-in-law, Naomi. Naomi urges Ruth to return to her own family, where she will be cared for and where she may even marry again. But Ruth refuses. She sees it as her duty to care for Naomi, who has no one else, and so decided to return to Naomi’s homeland with her. Here is what Ruth says: “’Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’” (Ruth 1:16-17) The devotion shown by Ruth toward Naomi is a perfect example of the faithfulness that God expect, demands, from each one of us.
The second specific thing that this definition teaches us is that faithfulness is “adhering to a standard or an original.” God is that original! We are to be like Him. Isn’t that what we’ve been saying all along? To be faithful, we need to know the original faithful One and follow His example of faithfulness. We are to copy Him. This is both intimidating and good news for us. Intimidating because who can hope to copy God in any of these traits and not fail? But the good news is that we have a focus and that focus is God. When we fix our eyes on Him to follow His example of faithfulness, He will pull us along a faithful path. It will be His strength that allows us to be faithful and to be like Him. We don’t have to do it alone.
Allow this to sink in. Really think about the definition above. Do you agree with what I’ve said about it? Disagree? See something else? Please share! In the next entry, I will look at the example of God’s faithfulness in the Bible. We have to know what we are following, right?
(1) “strict or thorough in the performance of duty”;
(2) “true to one’s word, promises, vows, etc.”;
(3) “steady in allegiance or affection, loyal, constant”;
(4) “reliable, trusted, or believed”;
(5) “adhering or true to fact, a standard, or an original; accurate.”
So what does this tell us about the faithfulness we are to have in our own lives? I see in these definitions that faithfulness is being true to God and to others. It means pledging our allegiance to God and God alone, being loyal to Him in all we say and do. It means fulfilling our responsibilities as Christians and doing what we know we are supposed to do. Not just doing it, but doing it thoroughly.
But there are two other specific things that I see in this definition. The first is in definition (4). Faithfulness has everything to do with trust. Faithfulness is the foundation upon which trust is built. If we are not faithful, not dependable, then trust cannot and will not follow. Faithfulness holds all the other fruits in its hands. You can excel at love, at joy, at peace, at patience, at any of the other fruits, but if you are not faithful in executing them, then it doesn’t really matter that you are good at any one of them. Think about that for a minute. This thing between God and us is a relationship and relationships are built on trust. God has proven Himself faithful (we’ll get to that Scripture in the next entry). Have we proven ourselves faithful to Him? He wants us to be true, steadfast, reliable, and trusted. All of those things add up to the fruit of faithfulness that we are commanded to have in our lives.
A true example of this type of faithfulness can be found in the person of Ruth. In Ruth chapter 1, Ruth finds herself a widow caring for her also-widowed mother-in-law, Naomi. Naomi urges Ruth to return to her own family, where she will be cared for and where she may even marry again. But Ruth refuses. She sees it as her duty to care for Naomi, who has no one else, and so decided to return to Naomi’s homeland with her. Here is what Ruth says: “’Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’” (Ruth 1:16-17) The devotion shown by Ruth toward Naomi is a perfect example of the faithfulness that God expect, demands, from each one of us.
The second specific thing that this definition teaches us is that faithfulness is “adhering to a standard or an original.” God is that original! We are to be like Him. Isn’t that what we’ve been saying all along? To be faithful, we need to know the original faithful One and follow His example of faithfulness. We are to copy Him. This is both intimidating and good news for us. Intimidating because who can hope to copy God in any of these traits and not fail? But the good news is that we have a focus and that focus is God. When we fix our eyes on Him to follow His example of faithfulness, He will pull us along a faithful path. It will be His strength that allows us to be faithful and to be like Him. We don’t have to do it alone.
Allow this to sink in. Really think about the definition above. Do you agree with what I’ve said about it? Disagree? See something else? Please share! In the next entry, I will look at the example of God’s faithfulness in the Bible. We have to know what we are following, right?
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