If we read through the Gospels – and really, through the entire Bible – we see that faithfulness is an important aspect of our faith. Jesus even said, “When the Son of man comes, will he find faithfulness on the earth?” (Luke 8:18) And, “The one who remains faithful to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). Clearly, faithfulness is important.
It’s tempting to simply strive for faithfulness – Jesus talks about the definition of faithfulness in Luke 12:42-44: “Who then is the faithful…blessed is that servant whom his master will find [continuing faithfully in the work the master gave him] when he comes.” However, striving for faithfulness alone is little better than the Old Testament law. We follow the rules. We do the things that are right. And while that is part of the external scene of faithfulness, there’s a lot to faithfulness that happens “under the hood,” so to speak.
One of the biggest things that fuels the internal world of faithfulness to God is purity. Now, before you start thinking, “Nope; never slept with a girl, and I’m not addicted to porn; I’m good,” realize that sexual purity is just one form of being pure. There is a mental, emotional, and physical element to purity that is more than just sexual.
We get some clues to what this type of purity looks like – and how to access it – through Scripture:
Loving one another helps to create purity (1 Peter1:22)
Wisdom from above is pure (James 3:17)
Guarding your heart according to the Word of God makes your heart pure (Psalm 119:9)
Obeying the truth makes your soul pure (1 Peter 1:22)
Putting your hope in God makes you pure, just like God is pure (1 John 3:3)
Purity enables faithfulness. It strips away the distractions and allows for singleness of heart. Singleness of heart allows you to keep your eyes focused on God and what He is doing. At that point, faithfulness is easy because you have no desire to do and engage in things that God is not in.
And so, if you want to have faithfulness, a good way to do this is to pursue purity. As we discussed above, a few ways to be pure are to guard your heart, love others, engage in and with God’s wisdom, obey the truth, and put your hope in God.
One last thought: Purity and faithfulness don’t start as a huge responsibility. They begin small. Purity in one area of your life, then another, and another. Similarly, faithfulness usually starts as being faithful in one or two things and then growing from there. “One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much… if then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches?” (Luke 16:10-11)
