Week Seven: Faithfulness

Kayla Paulsen

Characteristics of a faithful person:

Faithfulness is a virtue that not many people have. Who are we being faithful to? Why is faithfulness so important? What does the Bible say about faithfulness? How can we be faithful in an unfaithful world? Here are some characteristics of a faithful man and woman in Christ:

• Commitment: when I think of commitment, I think of dedication. Dedication of one’s self to a particular subject or matter. Biblically, it would mean dedicating yourself to a relationship with the Lord. Commitment is a huge part of our relationship with Jesus. With commitment comes faith in Jesus our savior!

• Love: Love seems to be a central theme in the Bible. We would be nothing without love. But how does love help us be become faithful? Well let’s talk about motive. What motivates us to be some faithful? As Christians, we do not want our own vanity to motive us into faithfulness. With love, our intentions are set straight and we are encouraged to be faithful to each other and unto the Lord by love. “Steadfast love and faithfulness preserve the king, and by steadfast love his throne is upheld.” Proverbs 20:28

• Patience: have you ever heard the phrase “patience is a virtue?” Patience is a fruit of the spirit that may be the most difficult to achieve for many of us. Speaking to all those with a significant other: have you ever lost patience with your partner? Maybe your lack of patience has caused you to stumble or even be unfaithful. Patience goes hand and hand with faithfulness because how can we be faithful and keep our word of we are always losing patience? James 1:3-4 “knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience”

Faithfulness is not talked about as often as it should be. It is usually put in the back burner. Faithfulness is so important in our relationship with Christ and understanding who God is. Our God is a faithful and true God. We can put our trust in him for we know he will provide. He is always faithful!!

“A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.”
Proverbs 28:20

Have a blessed week everyone!
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Big thanks to Kayla for this! You’re amazing!

 

Kylie Voight

Keeping your word

Gentleness is the eighth fruit of the Spirit and is defined as the quality of being calm, kind, or soft. People often associate gentleness with weakness. This is not true and, in fact, the exact opposite is true. Check out this writing by Gary Thomas: “When my daughter was young, she used to love to squeeze my hand as hard as she could, trying to make it hurt. She could squeeze with all her might, but it never hurt. She didn’t need to be gentle because she lacked the power to cause me any pain. Then, just for fun, I’d give her hand a tight little squeeze until she yelped. It’s the strong hand, not the weak one, that must learn to be gentle.”

Jesus was definitely gentle, probably the most gentle man to ever exist. In Matthew 11:29, He says that He is “gentle and lowly in heart”. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he starts off the tenth chapter with this: “I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ”. Not only was Jesus himself gentle but His followers too. We can see that Jesus clearly taught his disciples to be gentle.

Why did He do this? I believe that others receive what we have to say best when we present it in a gentle way. Peter writes this in his first book: “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). This key aspect of gentleness in the Christian life is so important, but especially so when we are sharing our faith with others. I encourage you to be intentional about being gentle this week. Lean on the strength of the Holy Spirit to bring about this gentleness. May your weekend be filled with Jesus and joy!