The call to serve, as we have seen in Romans 12:1, is also a call to faithfulness. To give our acceptable and reasonable service, faithfulness is required. Faithfulness is total trust and loyalty to God. It means complete surrender and unwavering faith in God as we know that He so loves us that everything He does or allows in our lives will ultimately work out for His glory and for our good. A faithful servant is ready to take any step in obeying his Master for he knows that his Master has no other motive but love for him. In 1 Corinth 4:2, we read, “Moreover, it is required in stewardship that a man be found faithful.”
It is important to know that faithfulness is not something we can just decide to have by our own might. Faithfulness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 5:22, we see faithfulness is listed as a fruit of the Spirit. One cannot develop in faithfulness except he or she has a deep personal relationship with the Holy Spirit and consistently meditates on the Word of God. The Spirit is the one that enables us to have a deep commitment and unflinching loyalty to God no matter what comes our way, and we’ll need to continue to ask for His help to grow in faithfulness to God.
Faithfulness is required in our service to the Lord. It is needful because there will be times on this Christian journey when we will go through trials, and fiery trials sometimes, and the only thing that will sustain us in His service at such times is faithfulness. Job said “though He slays me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). Job resolved in his heart that God is good and that there is no unrighteousness in Him. Job knew God’s goodness and love which enabled him to trust Him even when calamity struck. There will be times when obeying the Lord will be very hard and risky. Sometimes, our bodies may be tired, but our Master can ask us to do work that may not be easy. The only thing that will keep us in such moments is our faithfulness to the Lord.
We can see in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 that to please the Master, the servants who received the talents had to take some risks in doing business till the Master returned. This means taking the step of faith required to obey the master. He commanded the servants to “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13). The two servants went and did that. Their steps of faith were rewarded with success as they made 100 percent profit when they obeyed their Master. The one servant was afraid and did not obey. “He played it safe,” and did not use the talent he was given. So while the other servants heard “Well done, good and faithful servant,” he was rebuked and was cast out into outer darkness. His problem was in his heart. He was not faithful to his Master—he had doubts in his heart about his Master’s character and intentions.
Faithfulness is a quality that should be in the life of every follower of Christ. Apostle Paul urged Timothy in 2 Timothy 2: 2 to commit the teachings he had received from Paul to faithful men who will be able to teach others. When we are faithful, the Lord will make us able. In the Kingdom of God, faithfulness is esteemed above competence. God is looking for faithful men and women and I pray that He will find us faithful in all His house!
March 6, 2022 – Minister Florence Madueme
