Joel Littlefield

When I think about faithfulness in my life I laugh a little on the inside because I know how I am. It’s not that I’d call myself a complete failure in everything, but honestly, I fail every day. And so do we all.

Who doesn’t desire to be a more faithful spouse and parent? Who doesn’t desire to be faithful in their ministry to the local church, at their job and to their friends?

We all do, at least to some degree. But the point of the Christian life is not to live perfectly. It’s to lean completely on our perfect Savior who in every way remains faithful.

It is Jesus that keeps us afloat in this midst of mistakes and shortcomings. When we’re unable to hang on it is God who hangs on to us.

The Apostle Paul reminds us in his letter to Timothy that “If we are faithless, He remains faithful.”

Paul does not say, “Don’t worry about failing”.  He says that when we are faithless, He remains faithful. The root of most of our failures is a lack of faith in Jesus and not seeing the gospel clearly. Think about it. In every area of life that faithfulness really matters to us Jesus is our greatest example. A desire to be a better witness should be met with a deeper desire for Christ. A desire to be more faithful in marriage, or to abstain from sin, or to parent better, should be met by a deeper desire for Christ Himself, because He is the Savior. Our faithfulness is not the savior.

In the same passage Paul gave Timothy 4 “if” statements.

“If we have died with Him, then we will also live with Him. If we endure then we will also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful — For He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13

Paul tells us that the Word of God is never bound, and therefore even when his body lay weak in prison, God can save His people. So as he’s instructing young Timothy to be a good soldier for Christ, to pass the torch of faithful teaching to faithful men who will teach others, and to stay the course like a farmer who knows the reward of patience, he reminds him to look to Jesus as the ultimate motivation and hope.

We’re all going to fail. Be reminded that Jesus is the faithful One. His faithfulness remains through our weaknesses. We live because He died. We persevere because He endured the cross. We do our best to live as faith-filled people. We seek to grow in obedience and surrender. But our task is to lean fully on His remaining-faithfulness and allow that to be our greatest strength.