Oh come all Ye Faithful...

Faithfulness...

What a unique season to be discussing that. 

(catch up here on the other Fruit of the Spirit)

O Come All Ye Faithful

Joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.

Come and behold Him,

Born the King of Angels;

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord!!

What does it mean to be faithful?  How to we live out faithfulness in our parenting to our children. 

 

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see"

 

I have always defined faith as

"Believing that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do" 

 

I think the First place we should start is by meditating on Faithfulness of God to us.  We will have a hard time growing in our faithfulness to Him and others if we do not understand His great faithfulness to us. 

He will never leave or forsake us

He has a plan for us and our Good

He Loves us so much that he sent Jesus as a propitiation for our Sins

If you have a hard time coming up with reasons God is faithful (and admittingly, sometimes it is hard to believe He is faithful)  I recommend spending some time meditating on the names of God. 

I think they second way we can live out faithfulness is by showing our deep faith in God.  I think the Christmas carol is true...Oh Come Let us Adore Him!  Am I letting my children see me worship the Almighty?  Am I being joyful and triumphant as I praise Him? 

Third, I think we can consider our faithfulness to God.   So many people want to avoid this.  "It's all about Grace, and not works" they say.  By no means do I think we can do anything to earn salvation.  But God gives us plenty of commands in the Bible, and we have the choice to obey them or ignore them.   If you have a saving faith in Jesus, then the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, and daily we can choose holiness over sin.

Lastly (though there are many more ways to live out faithfulness),  I think we can live out faithfulness to our children by displaying these qualities of God to them.  I have heard it said many times that parents are the first picture of God children see.  We provide for them, we love them unconditionally, we discipline them, we are their authority.  We can show them our faithfulness to them.  They know we will be here for them.  Do my children know that?  Am I being true to my word with what I say to them?  After a challenging day of tantrums and sibling rivalry am I showering them with my love?

So come all ye faithful... Come let us adore Him!