Dear Friends,

What does it mean to say that "God is faithful"? It means that He is true, trustworthy, reliable and devoted to us. It means that we can absolutely rely on Him in any circumstance; He stands by us and saves us even when we are unfaithful to Him. Can we say the same thing about ourselves in our relationship to God? Do we honor Him, stand by Him and remain faithful to Him during times of conflict with another or during a moral dilemma or a personal challenge?

Each of us faces acts of evil, tragedy or the experience of simply being around unbelievers who may cause us to question our faith. We experience stress in our work and personal lives that can spill over into our daily walk with God. Our faith may be shaken to its very core. Yet, even if we do not act in a faithful way, God doesn’t leave us. He remains true to His very being which is rooted in His love for us. 

You are asked by God to be faithful to God because God loves you. Staying faithful doesn’t benefit God; it benefits you and all the people who you come into contact with. It can be incredibly hard in the wake of adversity; yet, aligning your will with God’s will through the power of the Holy Spirit is what permits us to stay faithful regardless of the obstacles that may cross our path. We are not perfect. We make mistakes. We may sin. We might turn away from God for a time. But even when we fail like this, God’s faithfulness holds us up. His love reaches out to us, we need only turn back to Him. God is so much bigger and greater than our conflicts, problems, stresses and anxieties. Thank God He is faithful even when I am faithless!

He asks us to be faithful men and women who can be relied upon to let His love shine through us and out into the world (remember the analogy of the cracked pot I shared in a recent post?). There are so many wonderful reasons to remain faithful to Him:

• To encourage others to remain faithful (Hebrew 13:7)

• To know the wonderful feeling of victory (Revelation 19:1,2)

• To live in a place where there are no tears, no more pain and no death (Revelation 21:4)

• To have no regrets (Philippians 1:23)

• To fully realize that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18) 

• To live in a place where love continues and controls (1 Corinthians 13:13) 

• To know the satisfaction of finishing the race (2 Timothy 4:7) 

• To eat of the tree of life (Revelation 2:7) 

Share your story of faithfulness in the face of temptation or conflict, and inspire others to continue to trust in and rely on the Lord, too.

Blessings, 

Ron