God is the only one who is always faithful.  That’s why grace is so crucial for the rest of us.  We are so prone to breaking confidences, abusing the trust others have placed in us and proving unfaithful.  We desperately need to become more like him each day we live.  I praise God his Holy Spirit continues to work in our lives to make us more faithful.

While we are prone to missing the mark in this vital area, we still need high callings.  We need mottos that stretch us.  Low living comes all to easily.  We need people around us who expect the best from us and hold us accountable when we miss the mark.  We also need examples of people who are growing more and more faithful.

Paul admonished Timothy to be mindful of his character.  He wrote him, “Command and teach these things.  Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity….Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.  Watch your life and doctrine closely.  Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:11-16).

What can people who’ve just met you find out from those who’ve known you for the last five to ten years?  Will they be able to discover that you are more dependable than you used to be?  While there was a time when you were quicker to make a promise than to keep it, have your friends witnessed progress in you?

We must not take this issue lightly.  Some of us have little leavening influence in our environments because we are just as unfaithful as we used to be.  The one thing that is predictable about us is that we are undependable.

As I mentioned in my sermon yesterday, faithfulness and self-control are two of the character traits God’s Spirit will produce in the lives of believers who keep in step with his cadence.  They are part of his fruit (Gal. 5:22-23).  If you’re not becoming more faithful you are marching to the beat of a different drummer.

John Kenneth King