Day 24
Faithfulness
Finding Faithfulness
Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Proverbs 3:3
Faithfulness as a concept can be hard to explain. Most might think it means you are loyal and devoted to a person. And as long as that person is God, then that definition is right, but as soon as your loyalty rests on another human being rather than God, it is no longer a fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit called faithfulness is generated by the Holy Spirit, not by your love or devotion to a human being. Your faithfulness to others should be an outpouring of your faithfulness to him, and that’s why you can be faithful to friends, strangers, and enemies alike. What this means is that you are a God Girl no matter who you are with. You are faithful no matter how faithless others are. In other words, the faithlessness, cruelty, or hate of the world never changes who you are, never leads you to compromise or to choose sin. When the faithfulness of God defines you, you are a safe person for everyone because you point everyone to Christ, regardless of their faithfulness in return.
Faithfulness means that you are not overly defensive, treating others as the enemy, but that you treat others as either fellow disciples of Christ, members of your family of faith, or as nonbelievers you are meant to be a witness to. Because your life points up to the life of Christ rather than inward to the life of self, you find no need to be self-defensive. He is all that matters. Because of that you will not be prone to jealousy. Jealousy comes from a faithless life. It points to a distrust of God and accuses him of being unkind, unfair, and partial to others, when you know his love for you is pure and true. Faithfulness ignores the pangs of envy and keeps faith in God.
When you allow the Holy Spirit to give you faithfulness, that faithfulness is a guide to others around you, not a stumbling block. That means that when you see sin in your friend’s life, you refuse to encourage it by covering for them, sympathizing with them, or joining them. Faithfulness doesn’t forsake God’s will in order to protect a friend. That is the definition of unfaithfulness: turning away from the Holy Spirit in order to encourage someone else’s sin. So the God Girl speaks truth and encourages her friend to forsake her sin and to listen to God’s Word and the voice of the Holy Spirit. This is faithfulness to both God and friend.
When you are faithful, you want only what’s best, even if what’s best for another might be worse for you. A lot of times the failures or weaknesses of others can become the subject of conversation so that others can pray for them or just to bond with another person over the mess of someone else’s life. But faithfulness doesn’t allow you to talk about someone else, even under the guise of wanting to pray for them. Faithfulness is so fully focused on God and his will that any discussion of another person’s sin is irrelevant, unless that person has asked for you to tell others. The idea that it’s okay to talk about other people in order to feel like you are in the know, are better than they are, or are “looking out for them” is a lie. Talking about other people is unfaithful because it draws on the flesh that desires what Adam and Eve desired in the Garden: to have all the knowledge in the world. Faithfulness leaves omniscience to God and trusts him with the lives of others.
Faithfulness comes not from your love for others but from your love for God and his faithfulness. Don’t let your unfaithfulness make the claim that God can’t be trusted, but react to everyone in your life with the same faithfulness God has given you.
- Explore It
Enemies—Do you have any? If there is a person you resent or want to hurt, then you have an enemy. Considering the idea of faithfulness, what do you think God wants you to do in regard to this person? Pray for them today and ask God how you are to treat them next time you see them.
Frenemies—If you have a friend who is sometimes an enemy, then you have someone who may be leading you to sin. It may be because you want to get even with them or because they’re leading you to some other kind of sin. Think about the people in your life who encourage your sin, either by their actions against you or by their encouragement of your sinning with them. A frenemy is a difficult relationship, but God’s faithfulness still has to define all your relationships. What does God want you to do with regard to this person? Pray for them, resist them, disengage from them, or speak with them in love? Ask God today what to do when your friend turns on you.
Taking sides—Are there any relationships you are in now where you find yourself taking sides? Our God is a God of reconciliation, not separation. Pray for these relationships today and ask God how you can be more faithful in them.
- Pray It
Dear God, teach me to know what is faithful and what isn’t. Help me to be a good friend and a loving enemy. Give me guidance in relationship to difficult people, and help me to serve you no matter what might happen. Amen.
- Hold It
Today, if you have an opportunity to criticize someone, hold your tongue. Instead, pray for them and yourself. Ask God to show you how you can help them rather than judge them. Remain faithful to him, and stay out of the battles of life. Instead, be an interceder, asking for God’s will to be done in the lives of those around you.