Forever Faithful

Forever Faithful

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is. 2 Timothy 2:13

GOD IS FAITHFUL. Unfortunately, we aren’t—at least not always. We may be faithful to varying degrees and for certain lengths of time, but we aren’t perfect. Our hearts are not yet fully mature, we have not yet fully removed every hindrance to the faith he has put within us, and we haven’t yet lost the ability to sin. Even so, as Paul assured Timothy, God remains faithful. He can’t deny who he is.

That doesn’t mean God answers our prayers whether or not we believe his promises or that he continues to feed willful rebellion with his blessings. It does, however, mean that we base our faith on his nature, not ours—that we trust him because he is trustworthy, rest in his promises because of his integrity, and invest our entire selves in his commitment to us. We may stumble at times, perhaps even going through periods of questioning and holding weakly to our faith. But he remains faithful throughout. He is patient and kind because he is love, and love is always patient and kind (1 Corinthians 13:4). He walks with us throughout our journey of faith and carries us when we falter.

We therefore don’t have to feel the pressure of developing perfect faith in order to receive God’s good and perfect gifts. We can grow into it, knowing that our faith rests not in our own wavering spiritual maturity but in his constant character. He is always calling us forward in faith, so we are never to use his promise of faithfulness as an excuse to be faithless. But he is far more interested in the direction of our hearts than their perfection. Our inconsistencies have no effect on his unchanging covenant of love.

Pursue faith and faithfulness with all your heart, but give yourself the grace to pursue and believe imperfectly. God gives you that grace, and you are rightly agreeing with him when you apply it. Just as you can’t force a tree to bear fruit, you can’t force your faith to grow. You can only nurture it with the right conditions, and it will soon become all God intends it to be.

What more powerful consideration can be thought on to make us true to God than the faithfulness and truth of God to us?