The bible speaks highly of faithfulness. The concept is either directly mentioned, or indirectly described everywhere throughout the bible. Faithfulness is a major attribute of God (Hebrews 10:23). Not only that, it is something that God is pleased with when he sees it in us (Matthew 25:23). But what is faithfulness? The easiest way to define that term is to say that it is the state of being full of faith. That’s a fair definition, but if you don’t know what the core elements of faith are, then you’re still no closer to defining the concept. Unfortunately, we have been programmed to think of faith as some kind of magical power that gets us stuff that we want. For instance, if we just believe, then Santa Clause will be real and we’ll be able to see him. More regrettable is the idea that if we just believe hard enough, then God will do what we want him to do in some particular situation. These aren’t examples of biblical faith at all. They’re either wishful thinking, or hopeful manipulation. At the core of faith is the evidence based belief that we can trust God to do what he has said he will do. Do we trust God to save us? Do we trust that the bible is true? Faith is a trust that is rooted at some level in evidence. God is faithful in that he consistently does what he says he’s going to do. He is faithful to love us, to forgive us, to save us, and to discipline us. He is also faithful to leave those who don’t love him where they really wish to be. So when we’re speaking about God, faithfulness is his quality of being worthy of trust because of the trail of evidence supporting that he will do what he has said he will do.
That same formula is applied to us. In the parable of the talents put forward by Jesus in Matthew 25:14-30, three servants are given various amounts of money. Two of those servants double the money they were given, but the third servant just buried what he was given, and returned the original amount. Two of the servants are called good and faithful by the master, because they proved their trustworthiness through the evidence of doubled returns. They were faithful to the duties and expectations that the master had given them. The third servant proved by evidence that he was not worthy of being trusted to invest the master’s wealth.
God has given each of us talents, blessings, opportunities, and missions. You’ll find these in every domain of your life. He has an expectation that we will be faithful, trustworthy, dependable, and responsible with what he has given us. In what ways are you leaving evidence that you’ve invested in those things with which he has blessed you? At bottom, as a Christian you have been blessed with salvation from the ultimate consequences of your sins. In what ways are you showing your faithfulness to him in that new state of being?