TODAY’S VERSE:

1 Samuel 12:24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.

The dictionary defines faithfulness as the quality of being faithful and faithful as steadfast in affection or allegiance, loyal: firm in adherence to promises or duty: true to the facts. The Bible tell us that God is faithful and describes Him as a God of faithfulness:

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.

Deuteronomy 32:4 The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He.

Today’s verse tells us that we are to serve God faithfully. You may be wondering just how exactly you are expected to serve God. Well, the Bible is filled with His commands for how we are to live our lives and, so, in order to serve God, we must obey Him.

John 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Jesus said that we will “keep His Word” (obey Him) if we love Him. So, our faithful service to God begins with first growing to love and trust Him.

Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

We come to love and trust God by faithfully reading our Bibles and praying every day. When we do this, we begin to have a relationship with God and then we WANT to obey and faithfully serve Him. Faithfulness does not come naturally to us, however. We all tend to be a bit selfish and fickle at times, right? So, how exactly can selfish, fickle people ever be faithful? Guess what? Faithfulness is another fruit of the Spirit!

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

So, as we grow in our relationship with the Lord, trusting, loving, and obeying Him, the Holy Spirit will give us the power to be faithful to God, as well as to other people. None of us are perfect, of course, and, sadly, we will all fail God in this area throughout our lifetime. Fortunately for us, even though we fail, God NEVER fails; even though we are unfaithful to Him, at times, He is ALWAYS faithful to us.

2 Timothy 2:13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful- for He cannot deny himself.