The Jesus Name Church

Faithfulness, in one sense, is a synonym for loyalty. Loyalty is strong devotion to a person or ideal. It’s easy to exhibit loyalty when things are going well. But true loyalty is a willingness to stand by your friends and your beliefs when no one else seems ready to do so. But from a biblical perspective, it is possible to be loyal without being faithful. Faithfulness suggests being “full of faith,” so it is a measure of your relationship with God. Faithfulness is simply a consistency of such faith. A classic example of loyalty is Ruth, the daughter-in-law of Naomi. After Naomi’s husband and two sons died, it looked like she would be left alone in the world. But Ruth expressed loyalty to her mother-in-law with the classic statement: “For whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people and thy God my God.” Ruth’s loyalty was rewarded as she returned to Naomi’s homeland, found a husband, and eventually became the great-grandmother of King David. How do you feel when someone is disloyal to you? Can your friends count on your loyalty—no matter what? How do you think you might eventually be rewarded for your own loyalty to friends or family members? Sometimes little-known people stand out as role models. One such model of faithfulness is Enoch. We don’t know much about Enoch. But in a long passage that records how a number of people “lived” and then “died,” Enoch stands out because he “walked with God,” and then later, “he was not, for God took him.” Because of Enoch’s faithfulness, he apparently didn’t have to experience death like everyone else does. Is faithfulness a regular part of your character, or only an occasional trait? As you become more faithful to God, what possible benefits do you think you might receive? Why do you think faithfulness is so important to Christians?