To be faithful is to simply love Christ and determination to follow Him no matter what happens to you – in happy hours and in terrible times. It also means strength and willingness to do the Lord’s work, regardless of the difficult circumstances you find yourself in. Let’s say I want to be faithful, I want to serve my Master through rain and sunshine, what can I do to motivate myself? Is there a secret ingredient to faithfulness?
Love for Christ
I assume, as a believer, you are already in love with your Saviour, if not, then there is something terribly wrong with your faith walk. In fact, you have every right to doubt if you are really saved. However, those who are forgiven in Christ can confidently say with Paul, “the love of Christ compels us.” It means your love for Christ, and your knowledge of His love for you, is the foundational strength for being faithful. I am one who loves to follow the stories of missionaries and other faith heroes, some who have gone to be with the Lord. I learn that they were all normal humans like us, most even faced terrible hardships on earth, yet their love for Christ gave them amazing strength to be faithful with this Gospel. You see friend, there is no magic formula to hold on to this faith. In fact, I can scream all day and beg you to keep the faith, yet it will all fall on deaf ears if your own heart is not right with Christ. Begin by sorting your love issue with your Saviour! Do you truly love Him and are passionate about His cause? Pray for that if you have to, then everything else will fall into place.
Love for the souls of men
Again, it is terrible to call yourself a Christian, with no burning desire for the souls of men. The same love that Jesus had for the world, until He gave His life for them, is the same that overflows to the hearts of His followers. Everyone one of us who calls on the Name of the Lord must have scarred knees because we desperately want men and women to be saved and to come to maturity in Christ. Hence for their sake, we have no choice, I mean no choice but to be unwavering in this faith walk. My dear Christian friend, If you are double-minded yourself what will happen to those who look up to you?
Accountability
Just in case you forgot, the Lord is watching how we are handling this Christian Faith, until we all stand before Him to give account. For that reason, by His strength, we must and will run this race well – correctly representing Him in whatever we do. Furthermore, we are also accountable to fellow humans; believers and unbelievers alike. Any good that comes from our lives goes to heaven in glory while any hint of hypocrisy and compromise from you professing believer does nothing but damage the faith of other believers and gives unbelievers a reason to blaspheme the Holy Name of heaven. Therefore, we do well to hold our place and be faithful to this Gospel cause, even if it costs us our lives.
One of the excuses I hear so often is that people nowadays are going through a lot of challenges hence they just can’t do it. Brothers, I very much sympathize with those who are in difficult circumstances because I am a fellow human with my fair share of life’s troubles. Yet I go on to inform you about believers in North Korea who are in prison as we speak – for their faith. What about those in Nigeria who have had to witness their loved ones gunned down inside the house of the Lord yet they are still not in the mood of denying their Saviour? Therefore, the life challenges argument is just a lame excuse because there are Christians around the world with worse challenges than we will ever know. Think of it this way: you say you want to reach the world for Jesus, yet you are ready to ditch the same Jesus at the slightest sight of hardship. What kind of faith is that?
Let’s conclude this way: Brethren, this is a relay race. This Christian Faith we are holding on to now has been handed down from the faithful brothers who have gone before us in the Lord. Far be it from us that we become cowards and sluggards until we have nothing left to pass to the next generation. Let us consider the seriousness of what we have and fight the good fight of faith. Where ever you are, whatever you are doing for the Lord; hold your position and be faithful. See you on the other side with a smile. Sayonara.
This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful - 1 Corinthians 4:1-2
Sinothi Ncube
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