"Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself..." -Ephesians 5:22-28
"I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; and they have testified to your love before the church." -3John 1:4-6a
"Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." -Revelation 2:10
"These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful." -Revelation 17:14
I want to take a slightly different direction than the one we've been on the past two days. We've looked at God's faithfulness to us, even in our unfaithfulness, and we've looked at how we should respond to Him. Now I would like to shift gears and focus on our faithfulness to others.
Our witness to others is going to be heavily affected by our faithfulness to our words and convictions. It is so damaging to a person's reputation when they say one thing and do another... not only is it damaging to that person's reputation, but if they are claiming the name of Christ then they are damaging the other person's view of Christianity. People will often say, "Yeah, I know some people who are Christians... they aren't any different than me." Or I've even heard, "Yeah, those Christians are more messed up and more evil than I am!"
Human beings tend to judge their spiritual standings based on works... they are stuck in the Law and are not living under the Grace of God. However, they do have one thing right... our actions speak volumes about us. When we say we love God and that we are Christians, and then we do things that are completely contrary the commands of Scripture... what messed up message are we giving to our unsaved friends and co-workers?
Not only actions, but also our words condemn us! We say we love God, but then we spout off problems in our marriages or problems with brothers and sisters, parents, teachers or whatever the case may be. We act more frustrated, more angry, less self-controlled and all around crazy! For example:
I have a friend who is a walking contradiction! She will say one thing to me, about loving God and God loving her, and then the next minute I hear her telling someone all about feng shui and harmony with nature! She talks about going to church and learning about God, and then I hear her yelling on the phone and cursing to whomever is on the other end of the line...
My friend's case may seem to be one of extreme measures, but I think we are all capable of such bold contradictions. If you claim to be different than others because of what Christ has done in your life, then people are going to watch you, carefully, and see what it is that is different about you. Most of time, unfortunately, they end up saying, "I thought so..." Why? Why can't we be men and women of our word?
Here's the point! Hang with me! I took a long time getting here, but now we're getting to the point, so hang with me a little while longer...
We are not faithful witnesses, because we still look and act just like the world... we get frustrated with our marriages, so we give up... we get frustrated with our children's behavior, so we let them go their own ways... WE DON'T LOOK ANY DIFFERENT!!! We blow up when things don't go according to plan, we fall apart! We aren't faithful...
Friends, here is the point... in order to ever be effective witnesses to others, not to mention in order to be faithful followers of Christ, we must live our lives as people that are set apart... people that are different! We must hold STRONGLY to the commands of Scripture! We must persevere! When things get tough, we have to lean heavily on our Saviors arm, but we cannot give in and become like the rest of the world or we will lose our effectiveness as witnesses for the kingdom of Christ. If we fall apart, they will see us as being no different from anyone else and say, "It's not worth it to live like that... they do the same things I do anyways!"
Let me tell you something! Church is a waste of time on a Sunday afternoon, IF we are not going to be changed by what we hear, and are not going to make a difference for the cause of Christ. That's what faithfulness is... it's being changed by what you hear and then remaining changed and not reverting back to your old ways. Faithfulness says, "I have come this far, by the Grace of God, and I'm never going back!!!"
Faithfulness says, "I said that I would be with you until the day I die, and I meant it! I might not always feel like I love you, but that's not what matters. What matters is that this is a God-ordained union and I'm going to stand by you, with the help of our Savior, and we're going to make it through this struggle together!"
Friends, this is what the world will see and what will cause them to wonder! This is where heart-change takes place in the lives of our unsaved friends! When they see the unmistakable difference in our lives, and hear our mouths proclaim the name of Christ! Faithfulness is the difference between us and the world around us. This is where we make our stand!
I urge you, therefore, to examine the areas of your life which are lacking in faithfulness... Begin with your faithfulness to time spent alone with God. How faithful are you in your time spent with God? And I don't mean going to church on a Sunday morning...
How faithful are you towards your husband or wife? Are you tempted to "make casual conversation" with someone at work because things aren't going so well at home. Don't be fooled! This path is never the one that God would have us to take! I don't care what you think about how this person or that person makes you feel! It's all a lie and, when everything comes crashing down, it may be too late for you to ever restore your relationship with your spouse. Be faithful to the one that God has given you! Even when love seems scarce, remain faithfully devoted to one another. This is a God-honoring marriage... the one that goes through the rocky parts of life and comes out refined and stronger than it was before! This is the faithfulness that will cause others who witness your struggles to scratch their heads and ask, "What do you have that I don't? Why couldn't I persevere through the same struggles?" This is your opportunity to preach what you practice... which is exactly the order in which we should do things!
I could go on and on about all of the areas in which we should be faithful to our families or to our word, but I don't want to generate a list... that is not my intention. I do not want you to think that faithfulness is limited to a list that I give you, but I would rather that you examine yourself and your individual circumstances to determine what areas you need to work on faithfulness in.
That being said, I will leave you to meditate on what I've said this morning. Re-read the verses I put at the top of today's blog... find more verses that speak on faithfulness... Do whatever it takes to get right with God and to start being a faithful servant of the Word. This is what I'm going to do... I pray and plead with you to join me.
Grace and Peace!
Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .
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