1 Corinthians 4:1-2

“1. Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

2. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

By definition, faith is loyal, constant, and steadfast. True to the facts or the original.

That is certainly true of our God. But should also be true of us, the children of God, joint heirs with Christ.

Faithfulness is a requirement. But please do not confuse being faithful with being perfect. We are not perfect, we make mistakes. However, we strive to reach perfection. The goal is that as we mature and grow in Christ, we make fewer mistakes than we did before.

Perfect is having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be.

Faithful is different. God requires that we remain loyal to him, at all times. That we continue to do the things that we have been called or assigned to by God – without fail. We are not allowed to give up, take a break from, or put it down for a while, then come back to later. We must be steadfast (resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering ).

This sounds as if it is impossible to live up to this requirement. However, it is not. Again, we are not perfect, and yes, there are times where we will miss the mark of being faithful. But this should be the exception, not the rule. Remember, with maturity and growth, should also sharpen our “faithful” skills.

Think of it this way, God is ever faithful toward us. He is there when we need him, he supplies our needs, forgives our sins, extends his mercy and grace towards us, and most importantly, died for us while we were yet in our sins. He is ever faithful toward us. So it is not unreasonable that God requires a little faithfulness from us in return.

God understands our limitations and propensity toward bad decisions and disobedience. However, he does not give us permission to take advantage of his understanding by failing to never strive to do (and be) better. God understands our thoughts and intentions. He knows the reasons behind our behaviors. With that being said, when we are not faithful, he knows and understand the reasons behind that too.

Whatever the excuse for our lack of faithfulness may be, the solution is simple – more of God, and less of us. Most of the time we concentrate on ourselves and the things we are facing or going through. We allow these things to distract us from doing the will of God. Or even stop us from doing God’s will. In every instance, if we concentrate on worship, and magnifying God, the issues we face seem to decrease. This would prevent every opportunity of neglecting to be faithful to God.

The Bible tells us for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We all have made mistakes and failed God. However, we cannot stay there. We must love God enough to mature in him. We must understand both the importance of, and the privilege to repent before God. We serve a God that is faith and just to forgive and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). But we must first be mature enough to confess our sins to God, and ask for his forgiveness. Not being faithful to God is a sin. We have to admit to ourselves that we have not been as faithful to God as he requires. Once we admit this to ourselves, we can move on to admitting it to God, and accepting his forgiveness.

From this point (clean slate), just do better, be better, be faithful to God. Nike said it best, just do it.

Be faithful to God.

God called and chose us for the work. Now it is time to prove to God that his belief in us was well placed. Let’s do the work and make God proud. Let’s be faithful to God.