The Faithful

Revelation 1:5-6
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

Proverbs 20:6 asks, “…but a faithful man who can find?” Finding someone to be faithful in any area of life is not always going to be easy, but the verse above makes it clear that Jesus Christ is the “faithful witness.” What is interesting is how He proved His faithfulness to man. The progression of how God built His relationship with man is amazing, and it is a model that must be followed in building meaningful and lasting relationships with anyone. Let me show you several areas where God is faithful to man.

First, He is faithful because He loved us. You will notice that Christ didn’t choose to love us after He washed us, but He chose to love us before His blood cleansed us. In other words, He loves us at our worst which is true love. God’s love reveals that He saw us at our worst, and He still chose to love us.

Second, He is faithful because He washed us. God’s love is what brought forgiveness. God saw that we needed to be cleansed from our sin, and it was His love that provided a way for us to be cleansed through His precious blood. Had Christ not loved us, we would not have had a way to be washed from our sins; however, it was His love that moved Him to shed His blood so that our sins can be washed away. God’s faithfulness is always willing to wash away man’s sins.

Third, He is faithful because He gave us position with Him. You will notice that once we were washed of our sins that He made us kings. In spite of what our past was, Christ was willing to identify with us.

Fourth, He is faithful because He established a relationship with us. Not only did God make us kings, but He also made us priests. In other words, He made a way for us to have daily fellowship with Him. Always remember that fellowship with Christ is what keeps our relationship right with Him.

Now, let’s take these four areas an apply them to your relationships with others. If you are going to have fulfilling relationships with people, you are going to have to love people at their worst. Too many people want others to fit into their model to love them, but true love doesn’t change when people are at their worst. Christ loved and loves us at our worst, and you should be willing to love others at their worst.

Moreover, your love for people should make you willing to forgive them when they do you wrong. True love is willing to forgive no matter what a person has done. You can’t love people properly without having forgiveness. You can’t love people and hold the past against them. Fulfilling relationships are always filled with forgiveness.

Furthermore, a person’s position with you must never be at risk. Your love for others is tainted with selfishness if a person always has to prove themselves to keep their relationship with you. People should always feel secure that their relationship is secure no matter what they do.

Finally, a meaningful relationship cannot be built without fellowship. Communication with each other is a must if you are going to build relationships that last a lifetime.

Author: Allen Domelle