Driven by faithfulness (Part 1), by Ayo Akerele

“Who can find a faithful man” (Proverbs 20:6)

One of the greatest principles of scriptures is faithfulness. It is an extremely critical virtue and values of God’s kingdom that tons of Christians really know nothing about. What does it mean to be faithful? It refers to being truthful, loyal, consistent, and honest. Faithfulness is God’s greatest test of Christian character because it is on that basis, we will all be judged after our time here on earth. Faithfulness does not jump on anyone. There is no special anointing from God for some people to be faithful. It is an intentional effort by the help of the Holy Spirit in desiring to do things right at all times and in all cases. All through the bible, God never trivialized the subject of faithfulness-either in the old or New Testament. Every single person that God distinguished and blessed was faithful to God in their lives and callings. Let’s see some of these people in scriptures.

1. Jesus was faithful to God (Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people-Hebrews 2-17)
2. Moses was faithful to God (Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house-Numbers 12-7
3. Tychicus was faithful to God (But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you-Ephesians 6-21)
4. David was faithful to God—1 Samuel 22-14
5. Abraham was faithful to God (Nehemiah 9-8—You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him

The list is endless. The New Testament does not annul the need for faithfulness. Grace does not produce unfaithful people. Sadly, we are producing some of the most unfaithful generation of Christians since the time of the early apostles.

All through the New Testament, Paul in particular with other apostles spoke extensively about being faithful to God. Jesus when speaking to John in the Island of Patmos spoke about the faithfulness of some of the churches in Asia minor. Jesus said to the church in Smyrna,

“Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life (Revelations 2-10). Here what the bible says about faithfulness”

Let’s now look at some critical areas of faithfulness that we must all embrace to live a life pleasing to God

Faithfulness to God’s word

One of the most serious crises facing the body of Christ in this day and age is the lack of faithfulness to God’s word among Christians. It is the worst since the history of the church began. Basically, Satan has invaded the minds of believers and theological spaces with a virus of errors and heresies. And what’s the main purpose for this attack? To corrupt the body of Christ and to produce a new generation of unfaithful Christians to God’s word. First, what does it mean to be faithful to the word? Faithfulness to the word refers to

1. Honesty of heart in reading and accepting scriptural principles
2. Obedience to biblical principles even when they hurt your plans and interests
3. Loyalty to biblical principles without prejudice or any form of reservation
4. Reverence and honor of God’s word at all times and in every situation

Where these are lacking, heresies, confusions and errors will pervade the church space with very serious consequences that we will discuss later on. We are presently bombarded by a very ferocious array of attacks from the most unlikely sources. The word of God has become second fiddle and has lost his place of honor and reverence in the lives of many in the church. At a particular time, Paul said to the church he was ministering to, “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20-27). Job also said in Job 15-8, “Have you heard the counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? Where are the men and women who are sold out to the whole counsels of God?

Faithfulness in your marriage

To start with, we need to understand that marriage is not man’s idea. That is where the problem is. We want to run an institution we didn’t create with our own natural wisdom and strategy—and time and again, failure is the final product of such ventures. As I speak, marriage is one of the most endangered institutions on earth. It has become a regular subject of attack and disdain among Christians—with many people calling for the abolishing of the biblical models of marriage. Why? Time and again, unfaithful men and women have continued to ruin the lives of their partners. Some of the problems associated with unfaithfulness in marriage that make many people to disdain the word of God include the following:

1. Actual cases of extra marital affairs from either the man or the woman
2. Keeping secret investments from your spouse who is not actually a bad person to you
3. Working secretly with external forces to destroy your spouse
4. Working secretly to steal from or defraud your spouse
5. Working towards divorcing your spouse because you’ve found a so called—better person
6. Deliberately fighting your spouse with the weapon or sex or finances or other privilege just to manipulate him/her to doing your bidding

You cannot produce faithful husbands that were not first faithful bachelors neither can you produce faithful wives that were not first faithful spinsters. In other words, the foundation of faithfulness in marriage is to be a faithful person before going into marriage. And that is where the problem is. Although, it is possible for a faithful person to enter a marriage and for some reasons to fall. But for the most part, most of the problems of unfaithfulness we are seeing in marriages are caused by unfaithful singles entering into marriages. So, if you’re listening to me and are not married yet. Let me ask you this question, are you a faithful single? Are you a faithful bachelor? Are you a faithful spinster? If you don’t answer this question and you jump into marriage, only God can help you, you will damage the life of your partner. You must solve the problem of unfaithfulness first before you enter marriage.

Ayo Akerele, a leadership and system development strategist and can be reached at: ayoakerele2012@gmail.com