The Outward Bend of Faithfulness

As Christian, we all know the mundane, daily plodding along of faithfulness. The early morning rising—perhaps before the sun kisses the horizon—to pray and read our Bibles. The ordinary work of discipling our children in God’s Word. The every day choice of obedience over sin, of thankfulness rather than complaint. The walk (or perhaps light jog if you’re running late) to the pew each Sunday. These are some of the ordinary acts of faithfulness we do throughout our weeks.

These acts of faithfulness can at times seem so personal and pertinent to only ourselves, that over time our eyes slowly turn inward. Our self-centered hearts have a habit of turning us inward, even when something is meant to drive us outward to our neighbour and upward to God. How do we recognize this self-centered bend? How do we keep our gaze where it’s supposed to be in this daily plodding along?

We each know the temptation to make everything about ourselves. Much of life today comes with the option of personalizing it to our liking. There’s a lot of focus on discovering who we are and our own identities. We want things done our way and on our timing. If we trace many of our sins back to their root, we can often find a selfish intention from which they sprung up. 

We are likewise tempted to do the same with faithfulness. We easily turn inward and make faithfulness to God less about God and more about proving our own worth and abilities. We examine our faithfulness to boost our self-esteem and confidence. We employ faithfulness to make us more knowledgeable and wiser for our own sakes. We compare our faithfulness with that of our siblings in Christ to see how good we are in comparison. 

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