FAITHFUL…this is the word I think of when I think about my husband.
For thirty-eight years he has been faithful, not only to me, but to our family, to those we minister to in our church and in our community and even as he has ministered around the world…But especially, he has been faithful to His God.
I looked up the term, “FAITHFUL” this morning.
According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, it means “loyal, constant, staunch, steadfast, resolute.”
Dictionary.com describes being faithful as being “true” and “devoted.” The website states that being faithful “implies the qualities of stability, dependability, and devotion…long-continued and steadfast fidelity…unswerving adherence to a person or thing or to the oath or promise by which a tie was contracted.”
The Oxford Dictionary describes “FAITHFUL” as being “firm and not changing…remaining loyal and steadfast…true to the facts or the original.”
Www.BibleStudyTools.com describes being faithful “as a designation of Christians…full of faith, trustful, and not simply trustworthy.”
Faithfulness is not a characteristic often found in today’s culture. Rarely do we find people who are faithfully committed over the long term to their jobs, their churches, their friends, and even their families. It seems that the more affluent our society has become through the years, the less we value anything as permanent. Everything, even relationships have become “disposable”.
Proverbs 20:6 states: “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”
Well, I found one! I am truly blessed!
This man is humble and does not consider his own goodness. (Even though he is good, because of Jesus!) And he is faithful…loyal, trustworthy, steadfast, resolute, true, devoted, full of faith. My dear husband is a true example of long-continued, steadfast fidelity. He has remained true to the promise me made to me made on a Sunday afternoon in Asheville, NC, thirty-eight years ago today, as we stood before our church family and Joe’s dad, our pastor, vowing to be faithful to one another,
“In sickness and in health, in poverty as in wealth, in the bad that may darken our days and the good that may lighten our ways, remaining true to one another until death alone parts us.”
We have both changed…we’ve aged…we’ve changed careers…we’ve become more alike in a lot of ways, yet we have learned how absolutely different we are in our thinking. We have grown in our love for one another and in our love for our Lord Jesus Christ. We were once two young lovers (pretty much it was “love at first sight”). We became parents…we had a little baby girl who died…we matured…we learned a little more about trusting our heavenly Father…we moved…and we moved again…we became in-laws…we became grandparents…we became empty-nesters (just a few weeks ago)…
How can I describe my husband?
He is my FAITHFUL BEST FRIEND on this earth.
Because he has trusted in the Faithful One…the One who never changes… “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
My husband has remained true to this most important fact, and because of this, he is “full of faith, trustful, firm and not changing.”
It is WHO he is…It is WHO he belongs to. His identity in Jesus Christ makes him faithful. He is a follower of Jesus, a disciple, seeking to love his Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love others as himself.
You will not hear this man praise himself, yet he always seeks to recognize the best in others, building them up. He is gracious. He is kind. He is thoughtful. He is faithful.
I am reminded of an old song that I learned many years ago in Atlanta, GA, as I sang with an ensemble at Hawthorne Baptist Church under the leadership of Dr. Jerry Cline. Made popular by Steve Green in 1988, this song describes the aspirations of the life of my husband since his youth. Certainly, my husband is not perfect, as none of us are. However, he is truly an example of rare faithfulness found today.
We’re pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road,
And those who’ve gone before us line the way,
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary,
Their lives a stirring testament to God’s sustaining grace.
Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
Let us run the race not only for the prize,
But as those who’ve gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us,
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives.
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion light their way,
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey,
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.
After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone,
And our children sift through all we’ve left behind,
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.
Words and Music: Jon Mohr / Copyright 1988 Birdwing Music/Jonathan Mark Music
Retrieved June 3, 2017 from http://www.homecomingmagazine.com/article/find-us-faithful/
We’re pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road,
And those who’ve gone before us line the way,
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary,
Their lives a stirring testament to God’s sustaining grace.
Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
Let us run the race not only for the prize,
But as those who’ve gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us,
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives.
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion light their way,
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey,
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.
After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone,
And our children sift through all we’ve left behind,
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.
Words and Music: Jon Mohr / Copyright 1988 Birdwing Music/Jonathan Mark Music
Retrieved June 3, 2017 from http://www.homecomingmagazine.com/article/find-us-faithful/