May 9 | A Faithful Man
Proverbs 20:6, “Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?”
As a pastor with years of experience I’ve had the privilege of meeting hundreds of people. Sadly, most have had issues with being faithful, not only in the church but also in their lives. Very few people I’ve served have been faithful to God. The Bible is full of examples of the vast size difference between the crowd and the committed. A.W. Pink wrote, “Faithful people have always been in a marked minority.”
Moses led over a million Israelites, but only a small portion was faithful. Jesus reached thousands in His earthly ministry but only 120 were faithful to pray in the upper room. Paul planted many churches but only a few actually followed what He taught. If the best leaders in the Bible dealt with unfaithful people, so will you. Jesus said in Luke 18:8, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Even still to this day Jesus is giving people time to decide what they will do with His teachings.
Faithless people can say all the right things, but their words are worthless when you’re looking for them a year later. It doesn’t matter what excuses they make, the bottom line is always the same; they broke their word to both God and man because they lack commitment.
No one in life has an excuse to be unfaithful. From rich to poor, young to old, strong to weak and everyone in-between, anyone can be faithful. All one has to do is keep their word.
King Solomon probably had large amounts of people proclaim their love and allegiance to him and then fail to keep their word. God led him to write this proverb ending in a question mark because I believe Solomon is asking, “Does anyone know where I can find a faithful person?” All organizations and relationship structures such as; governments, churches, families, businesses, etc., must be built and ran by faithful people to be successful.
Are you a faithful person or do you break your word? Here are some ways you can be found faithful; (1) Only say what you mean, don’t use flattering words if you don’t mean them, (2) Be sure to only commit to things you can and will do, (3) Don’t lie or break your word, (4) Let your actions speak louder than your words, and (5) Seek forgiveness any time you break your word and let people down. Don’t make excuses. Say, “I am sorry and I will do better next time.”
I challenge you to be the kind of person that when your job, family or church calls out, “Who is faithful?” You can respond, “I am” and then prove it with your actions.
Reflection
Action
- Search your heart and repent of any times you were unfaithful.
- Ask God to develop the spiritual fruit of “faithfulness” in you (Galatians 5:22).
- Don’t just proclaim your love and faithfulness- prove it!