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In the early days of my ministry, I went through a wilderness experience. I was tempted to leave the local church where I had come to know Christ. But a pastor friend of mine gave me some of the best advice I have ever received. He said, "Throughout Scripture, the one attribute that God honors more than any other is faithfulness."
It is easy to quit when the going gets tough. The truth is that very few people remain faithful when confronted with challenging or difficult circumstances.
Quitting is easy, but it has long-term, devastating consequences. Faithfulness is difficult, but it becomes easier over time and has priceless long-term benefits. Just ask those who have been married for over 50 years. Faithfulness means to be consistent, dependable, and loyal, regardless of the sacrifice or the circumstances. It is a determination not to quit on God, yourself, or other people no matter what. It is the willingness to pay whatever price is required to honor your word and your commitment to someone or something other than your own agenda.
Faithfulness is a virtue that is rare these days. People often are more apt to find reasons not to honor their word rather than to look for reasons to do so. God is the ultimate model of faithfulness. His faithfulness solely depends upon Himself and not anyone else. His faithfulness is based upon His nature and character. It is not conditionally based upon what we say or do. Like God, our faithfulness must be based solely on our character, and not conditional on what others do or say.
If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for he cannot deny Himself. - 2 Timothy 2:13 (NKJV)
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself. - Hebrews 6:13 (NKJV)
No matter how long you have been faithful, one act of unfaithfulness can ruin 50 years of faithfulness. That one act would cause faithfulness to become "past tense", rather than being "present and future tense". Usually, unfaithful actions are born out of a pattern of unfaithful thinking. This is why we must allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1). Faithfulness begins in our heart, and should become our lifestyle - who we are internally (including our thoughts), and reflected in what we do.
You are faithful when:
· You honor your word, no matter what
· You are consistent
· You are willing to pay the price to follow through with your commitments
· You reject excuses to quit
· You do not allow what others say or do to cause you
to not follow through on your commitments
· You under-promise and over-deliver
· You are covenantal (committed through love, win-win, unconditional, permanent, forgiving), and not contractual (limited, contingent, win-lose, can be broken if one side does not follow through)
The value of faithfulness in business is priceless. It will enhance your resolve to not quit and cause you to keep going no matter what. It will build customer and brand loyalty because your customers, employees, and vendors will realize your dependability. It will increase the performance of your employees because they will model your behavior. It will increase the overall productivity of the business, which will increase your bottom line. It will make you a better witness for the Lord Jesus Christ - because your word and your actions can be trusted.
Unfaithfulness can have long-term, devastating consequences; it tarnishes your character and weakens your internal resolve to walk in integrity. God does not call us to be perfect, but He does call us to be faithful; faithful to Him, faithful to ourselves, and faithful to our families, employees, customers, vendors, and to all of those to whom we make commitments.
The key to faithfulness over time is to be focused on what really matters. There is One Who is worthy of our focus, and One Who will give us the strength to become faithful, and remain faithful. His Name is Jesus. Scripture encourages us to fix our eyes upon Him as we run the race of life (Hebrews 12:1-2). If your focus is to fulfill His will for your life, you will desire to remain faithful to Him at all times, and faithfulness will become part of your character.
My prayer for you this week is that God will give you the grace, conviction, and discipline, to help you to become a person who is unconditionally faithful to Him, to yourself, and to others.
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