Unfaithful without realising it

Have you realised how little the topic of 'faithfulness' is mentioned in the media nowadays?

What gets the most attention in the 'lads mags', news articles, story-lines in the soaps, even the topic of conversation in the playground is about getting as many partners as possible, without any commitment. It's about pleasing the self as much as possible and not caring who gets hurt in the process. And many are following this path of destruction.

This is what is happening 'outside.' But what about what's happening within the 4 walls of the church? I mean in a Christian's life—YOU!

How faithful are you?  I'm not just talking about faithfulness to a past or present partner. More, have YOU been faithful to yourself—in your words and your deeds? What you say and what you do say a lot about who you are and how faithful you will be in any relationship.

Do you consider little white lies as something innocent to save you from getting into trouble? These little white lies eventually turn into the big lies that you thought you would never say.

Have people stopped relying on you as they can no longer trust a word you say. "I'll meet you at six", but even you know your six means eight, or even later. Not even your pastor can depend on your word anymore!

You do not stick to the promises you make to yourself. If you are not faithful and admit that you don't carry out what you said you would, then how will anyone else believe in you? "I will be a better listener," "I'm going to stop flirting," "I'm going to start attending Love Therapy and be faithful in my attendance" "I'm not going to put myself down anymore." These are just some of the empty wishes that roll off the tongue without any change accompanying them.

Faithfulness requires controlling the things you see and your thoughts so that they do not lead you to sin. Jesus said: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:27-28

So, are you faithful? The answer to this is not just towards a partner, or amongst friends or colleagues, but in your obedient behaviour towards The Invisible God. If you are honourable, sincere and faithful to His teachings, you will be the same towards others—especially your spouse.

"Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men." Colossians 3:22-23

The Missing link

 

There are many reasons why people in the church may not receive God's promises in their love life. I would like to focus on the one that quite a few people in the church are guilty of, and that is...

...Well, before I mention it, let me tell you what people who commit this mistake normally do or say.

"I have prayed for years and I am still single." "I think it's God's will for me to be single.
" I have done everything, so if God doesn't answer me soon, then I will no longer attend church."
"God will bless me in His time."

They say to themselves I will attend Love Therapy, but when things get too tough for them, they stop.

Sometimes, a person (an ex-partner or someone out of the blue) will, all of a sudden, take an interest in the person and say that they want to go out with them.

Is this wrong? Well, you will know it's wrong because along with those sweet words and gestures comes a bag of secrets that are yet to be uncovered. As the person becomes besotted with this quick interest in them, they forget about finding out about the other things they should and need to know about this person. Because they ignore this, they get to a point where their heart rules over their head and it becomes harder to convince them that this person is not the right one. By this time, they have decided this person is the right one for them and may have already slept with one another or even moved in together and the list goes on. Sooner or later they will realise for themselves that the person was never the right one. However, by then the damage has already been done and now they feel hurt, betrayed and even guilty before God.

So, what's their mistake?

They did not complete or commit to the Chain of Prayer. It's in a Chain of Prayer that you will learn all the trimmings, not just receive the main dish, i.e. You will learn to value yourself, be humble, patient, forgive, your role in marriage, etc. and not just about finding a husband or wife.

The first day myself and Chris arrived in the church, we were advised to start a Chain of Prayer. We did not see the result  of our attendance in the first 7 weeks, though we saw changes and learnt a lot. However, we kept it up. For us it was 3 days a week, in the beginning. Eventually, we received the answers to our persistence and determination. We did many Chains of Prayer for our love life and never looked at it as "if we don't get an answer in 7 weeks, then we are out of here." On the contrary, we cherished it; valued it, learnt from it and stuck to it.

Can YOU say the same thing? It's the foundation of the UCKG... And it works!

When someone does not complete and persist in the Chains of Prayers until they get what they want, they are showing a number of things about themselves:-

1.    They are expecting God to bless them without any effort on their part, as if He is a magician.

2.    They are not determined to see it through to the end, to the point of testifying to the church the amazing things God has done through their persistence. As soon as any obstacle or distraction comes, the Chain will take a 'back seat'.

3.    "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much." Luke 16:10.

I am aware there will be things that will come up from time to time. However, if you notice that something ALWAYS comes that causes you to break your Chain of Prayer, it means you are on the right track and your answer will eventually come - if you are willing to fight for it.