I could be wrong but I do believe that all Christians do want to be Faithful to God. The big question in our minds is – How can we show our faithfulness to God.
Of course someone always wonders why is faithfulness to God so important? Does he need our worship? Does our faithfulness to God bring Him Joy or contentment?
God Is Faithful
This I know – God is faithful to us — The Prophet Isaiah wrote long ago of Gods faithfulness, “O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago”. — Isaiah 25:1
I know that we want to believe that we can count on God to fulfill his promises to those who seek Him. When I have failed and then realized that I had sinned against God, all seemed lost, until I realized that God is faithful to forgive my sin when I confess.
The Apostle John testified of this truth – God will forgive and renew us when we confess, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”. — 1 John 1:9
In the beginning God created all humankind, a special creation, that we might walk with Him. We were created to be part of a relationship with God. In the beginning Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden of Eden, but sin broke that relationship.
God did not give up on humanity. He was faithful to make a way that we could walk in a relationship with Him again. You will find all throughout the Bible examples of men and women who realized that God loved them and sought to live in relationship with God. God is faithful.
God gives us breath and life, He does not give up on us because he created us in love. He loves us just as we love our children. And just as we love our children and want to live in a right relationship with them, God wants to live in a right relationship with us.
To live in a right relationship with God calls us to faithful to Him.
Why Is Faithfulness So Important?
Faithfulness is the cement that bonds any relationship together. Just as a marriage grows stronger when two people remain faithful to each other, our relationship with God grows stronger as we remain faithful to Him.
Faithfulness is commanded by God. When God chose Israel, out of all the nations of the world, He called them to live in a covenantal relationship with Him. A covenant relationship is like a marriage; a contract, only in this case between God and the people of Israel.
In that covenant God gave them commandments to live by. In fact the first 2 commandments are commandments to be faithful to God alone.
“And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” — Exodus 20:1-6
It is important to remember that the commandments were not a way to salvation but a guideline that helped us live in a relationship with God.
So often the Israelite or Jewish people realized that they failed to live according to the commandments. And God being faithful pointed to a way to restore their relationships through the sacrifices and offerings that could bring them back into a right relationship – restoring their faithfulness.
For the Christian Faithfulness is even more important because it is by faith that we believe in God and by faith that we believe in Jesus as our savior. — We are saved by our faith in Jesus Christ.
Ways To Show Our Faithfulness
Since we are called to be faithful, to walk with Jesus or follow him throughout our life there are some common ways to show our faithfulness.
- Since we are trusting Jesus the first way to show our faithfulness is to trust in his words (his commandments). And how do we know his commandments? The primary way is through reading His word – Studying the Gospels will give us insight as well as the specific teachings that are found in them.
- As we study the New Testament learning more of Jesus we often find areas where we may lack understanding, this is where prayer is most important in the Christian life. Just as communications is important in a marriage, prayer is important in our walk of faith. And we all probably know that prayer is more than just talking, it is also taking the time to listen as we pray.
- As we pray and ask we need to learn to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When we become Christians God does not leave us without help. The Holy Spirit’s presence is a promise fulfilled given to every believer. Now at first this may seem to be a mystery but it does take time to develop the ability to listen to the Spirits leading. We are like newborn babies in the beginning not understanding all that their parents are trying to teach them but in time we grow in understanding.
- As we study God’s word, pray and seek guidance we begin to show our faithfulness to God through modeling our life after His word. How you live your life every day counts. How you interact with family friends and even strangers is dependent on how well you apply God word to everyday life.
Show Your Faithfulness To God Every Day
Our daily living displays our faith. Many might think that we only have to go to church to show our faithfulness to God. They think that we are Christians because we go to church. In truth our faith is revealed by our daily actions; how we act in relationship to others.
While attending church is important in helping us grow in our faith, our faith is portrayed more in how we treat others. There is much written in scripture about how to live in relationship with others. Christianity Today has a great article that might help you see how much of scripture is written about treating others. I encourage you to read “How To Treat One Another” here.
Learning To Live Faithful To God
I do believe that learning to live faithful to God is a lifetime effort. While I hoped that this article would encourage you in finding ways to show your faithfulness to God, I realize to that this takes walking every day seeking to please God.
Living faithfully is more of a journey than a one time effort. God has created each of us uniquely and we all don’t learn and grow at the same rate. Give yourselves time to grow. Be faithful today as much as you are able and don’t worry if you are not as sharp as others. God loves you just the way you are, and in time you will grow as you seek his will in every area of your life.
I hope that something I have written here helps you in discovering how to be faithful. If you have any comments or questions please feel free to leave a comment below.
Blessings
Ray
