The Joy of Staying Faithful

How important is it that your loved ones remain faithful to you? Do you believe that faithfulness matters? Our God is a faithful God-consistently loyal to those whom He loves and who place their trust in Him. And God desires that we also be faithful to Him-to be unwavering in belief and consistently loyal to Him as we grow older. What does that mean?

What does it mean to “stay faithful?”

It always helps to understand what you are being asked to do. Right?

Jesus told a parable to His disciples in Matthew chapter 25. A man entrusted some treasure to his servants while he went away. When he came back, he evaluates how faithful the servants were with the treasure. The master’s response to the two faithful servants is probably familiar to you,

“‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” (Matthew 25:23)

Faithful servant. You have been faithful.

The definition of faithful is “unwavering in belief, consistently loyal.”

We all want those closest to us to remain faithful to us—a spouse, family members, friends, and co-workers. We feel such security when we know their loyalty is consistent and unwavering. Faithfulness is an important character quality.

Our God is a faithful God. He is consistently loyal to those whom He loves and who place their trust in Him. And God desires that we also stay faithful to Him—to be unwavering in belief and consistently loyal to Him throughout our spiritual walk. That means for our lifetime.

Here is the great news: Our God is also the One who enables us to live faithfully as we choose to do so. We make the choice. He empowers us to live out that choice.

Staying faithful to Jesus

The Apostle Paul made that choice to stay faithful to Jesus and declared the reason why in 2 Timothy chapter 1.

“because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

Being confident in who Jesus is helps you and I to stay faithful.

Staying faithful also involves sticking to God’s truth from His Word and what we learn from those who have taught us truth. This is what Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 3,

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it… (2 Timothy 3:14)

Continue. Stay firm on what you know to be true.

Paul knew His God. He knew God was trustworthy. Paul chose to be unwavering in belief and consistently loyal to the Lord Jesus Christ—even as an old man in his 60s, in a Roman dungeon, with memories of persecution and beatings still engraved in his brain, and awaiting execution at any moment. He chose to stay faithful and write this beautiful letter of encouragement that not only fed Timothy’s soul but millions of other Christians who have clung to its verses for the past 2000 years. We learn from Paul how to make choices to stay faithful even while we are growing older.

Staying faithful even while growing older

I am a gardener. I have noticed that some plants definitely develop hardened stems over time with fewer leaves, fewer blossoms, and much less fruit. That can happen to Christians in old age as well. I have seen “retirees” retire not only from their day jobs but also retire from serving in the local church, retire from having compassion on the lost, and retire from discipling younger believers. They often say, “We have been there, done that. Let the younger folks do the work.”

Sadly, it is often the older Christians sharing alarmist information on social media about how bad our country is getting and how hopeless everything is. Their eyes are not on making disciples in their neighborhoods or retirement centers. I don’t want to get that way, to get hardened like that.

I thank God for older mentors in my life who did stay fresh and green until death—fruitful. They have taught me several things we should do in order to stay faithful and fruitful.

• We must choose to stay tuned to the needs of the women around us—all ages, young to old—and desire to reach them and teach them.
• We must approach Bible study with fresh eyes every day, looking for the new things the Lord will be teaching us and how we can share that with someone who needs to know it.
• We must recognize God’s work in our life every day, not just what He did years ago. As Psalm 96 verse 1 says, “Sing to the Lord a new song.” It is okay to share the good old song of how I came to Christ. But being aware of God’s presence and goodness daily gives you a new song to share about what the Lord is doing in your life today. That is staying faithful and fruitful.

I love the older women in my Bible studies who are still passionate about Jesus and serving Him. My momma was still teaching children’s Sunday School into her 80s. Staying faithful and fruitful is a heart attitude and a choice we must make even through declining physical and mental capabilities.

Faithfulness accompanied by fruitfulness will lead to joy in your life.

Are you a joy-seeker?

We offer a Bible Study that helps you get there:

The To Be Found Faithful Bible Study covers the book of 2nd Timothy in 8 lessons. This study will show how to be unwavering in belief and consistently loyal to Him as we live each day. We can stay faithful to His truth, to His people, to His ways, to His reputation, and to His purposes for our lives. Click on the picture below to read about this study, including reviews written by those who have done it.

We also have a podcast series associated with that “To Be Found Faithful” study—Satisfied Series 11 (click on the picture below to see the list of podcasts available).

Staying faithful to God brings joy to your life!

Living joyfully,

Melanie Newton