In All Things, Faithfulness

Faithful...
​
​Steadfast.
Never leaving.
Always there.
Always showing up.
Trustworthy.
Follows through.
Loyal.
Reliable.
Dependable.
Persevering. 
Committed.
​
Are you faithful? Many of us will nod our heads and say that we're spiritually faithful. Yes, we may believe in Jesus, follow Jesus and do our best to serve Him out of the gratitude we have for His grace.

Of course, we're faithful. We have faith. 

But does your faithfulness permeate every nook and cranny of your being? Are you wholly faithful? Or are you only faithful with certain things? 

Faithfulness is an all-encompassing character trait and gift of the Spirit that should effect every area of our lives.
​

God is faithful.

"If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." 2 Timothy 2:13

If we look to "faithfulness" in its perfect state, we see that it must always be faithful no matter what. In Timothy we're shown that God MUST be faithful even when we're not faithful to Him...He cannot deny His character. It is who He is. God's faithfulness can never be nullified even when the circumstances provide an "out". And it is impossible for Him to be faithful in one area, yet faithless in another.

But we have certainly mastered the art of selective faithfulness, haven't we?  


Unfaithful.

When we hear the word "unfaithful" it certainly provokes strong negative connotations, especially when applied to the most obvious area...marriage. It's a horrible, gut-wrenching idea, mixed with some strong emotions.

Yet somehow, there seem to be other commitments where unfaithfulness, or faithlessness, is ok. Friendships, appointments, little promises made to our children, and other minor commitments.

We can all agree that it's not good to be unfaithful in marriage, but can we all agree that it's equally bad to be unfaithful in any other commitments we make? 

(I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this...)


Physical Faithfulness

Now, we know that we have been entrusted with our physical bodies, being charged to take care of them and to keep them healthy, as much as it depends upon us. But are we completely faithful to this? Or does our loyalty to our own physical bodies look pathetic? Are we actually unfaithful? 

Sure, this seems like a big leap...commitment to marriage vs. commitment to your workouts. But if you think about it, someone that fully embodies "faithfulness" is going to follow through with every commitment, not just the big ones. They're going to be faithful in everything.

I have a friend, and I'm sure you have one like this too, that is completely dependable. If she says she'll be there, she will. If she says she is going to do something, you know she will. Before she commits to things, she ponders the weight of it and then decides if it's something she can wholeheartedly commit to. Once the commitment is made, it is a promise in her mind. 

Even with her workouts and nutrition she is fully committed. If she says she will do the three workouts I instruct her to do, I know she will do them all. If her circumstances make it difficult, she finds a way. And even with her food choices, she is faithful to the commitments that she made.

But, I have other friends that are not like this at all. They're flaky. Faithfulness is not their strong suit, so they must work hard at it. If I tell them that it's important to do three workouts each week, I can assume they'll miss half of them. It's unfortunate, but it's the truth. They're unfaithful and don't realize it.  


What does your faithfulness look like? 

If you have committed to working out and eating better, you better follow through. Be reliable in all that you do, not just the big things. Your faithfulness is in the balance. 

"Let your yes be yes and your no be no." Matthew 5:37

You need to show up and stay committed.
Prove that your are trustworthy and reliable in all things.
Remove any shred of unfaithfulness by following through with what you set out to do.
​
​Be faithful. 

---

You might also be interested in these other posts:

​
Finding True Strength 
​Who Are You? Why determining your identity is pivotal in fitness.
​Who Are You? (Part 2) The one title that is probably holding you back.