Cultivate Faithfulness
My first wife said, “I do.” Then she didn’t.
My friend said, “I’ve got your back.” Then, he cut me.
My colleagues said, “One for all and all for one.” Until they changed their minds.
The contract said… but that didn’t stop them.
I made a down payment. And then discovered there was a senorita across the border.
Jesus said, “Go,” but I didn’t.
Paul counseled me to take each thought captive for the purpose of obedience to Christ. Instead, I pondered my options while awake in the night.
“I am your life,” Jesus said. “I’ll take care it,” I replied.
“All Scripture is inspired,” God wrote, “Unless I see it differently,” I concluded. “Truth is relative, you know.”
“I will never deny you,” promised Peter-the-rock. Then he became a pile of sand.
“I am with you always,” pledged the One who could stop at nothing less. “I’ve got you.”
The passage makes no reference to the land being a hard, duplicitous place.
Faithfulness in contrast: Yours, mine, His—not to shame, but to showcase by comparison. We have every reason for confidence, not just because of His faithfulness to us, but because the One who is faithful lives in us to express Himself through us.
“I am here,” God declares. “Always.” If He spoke in Latin, He would declare Himself semper fidelis, always faithful.
Jesus lives in you, which is your hope. You live in Him. You are secure, sealed by the Spirit’s faithfulness. This nested arrangement is wholly contained within God. As a Believer, you are included in the Us that is the Trinity.
Jesus conveyed it this way: “There is absolutely no reason for you to harbor confusion about your place with Father and me.” Then He said, “When the Holy Spirit arrives, you will come to understand and know that I dwell within Father God, you dwell within me, and I dwell within you” (cf. Jn. 14:1-2, 20).
To help us understand, the Holy Spirit took up residence in us to guide, coach, instruct, comfort, and mentor regarding everything pertinent to Father God and our lives with Him. He who is absolutely faithful dwells in us and intends to demonstrate Himself through us.
“Dwell in the land,” our Psalm instructs in 37:3. But this is only half the sentence. “Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness,” it concludes.
“I will never under any circumstances desert you,” said Jesus.
So, I think to myself, I’m supposed to be faithful—and cultivate faithfulness—while living in a world that is the epitome of unfaithfulness. Hmm. Whatever else this may be, it’s awkward—leaves me vulnerable. I don’t like it. I should look at this psalm again, Then I’ll decide what to do.
You know, Psalm 37:3 makes no reference to the land being a hard, duplicitous place. That the land where we live is a land in the vortex of foolishness is not mentioned. That the land where we live is an immoral, nefarious land is not acknowledged. That this dwelling place is not a land of milk and honey, but vinegar and spice; a land not of fertile rows and abundance, but a land of prickly pear, serpents, scorpions, and subterfuge; none of this is noted.
So what are we to make of this?
Are we to simply read “cultivate faithfulness” and with glazed eyes move along to verse 4? Surely not. We must not… lest “cultivate faithfulness” be lost as Scripture and we forego its merit.
Expanding on what it means to be faithful, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy. The Amplified Bible renders the original grammar like this: “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]” (Heb. 13:5 Amp)!
Thinking this through then: The One who is faithful lives in me to, a) secure me, and b) to exhibit faithfulness, not only to me, but through me as well. Christ-the-faithful one, who is my faithfulness, is dedicated to inspire faithfulness in me so that I exhibit it no matter the unfaithfulness around me. It’s apropos to recall that diamonds are best displayed against dark backdrops.
That life is a raucous storm is a given. Whew!
God is now responsible to live through me as He sees fit.
But here’s the deal: This is no surprise. In fact, this is so routine that our psalm doesn’t bother to acknowledge it. Craziness in the land where we dwell is a given. Stressful? Sure. Noteworthy? Not really. After all, we are secure in Christ and this world is not our true home.
Therefore, there’s no reason to try to escape or sidestep. Be shrewd, but “Dwell in the land.” Live in it. Live fully. Live passionately. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. From this base of confidence, “cultivate faithfulness,” first in yourself and in the way you live. You may then “cultivate faithfulness” in others.
Paul frames faithfulness like this: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude” (Col. 2:6-7).
Notice your condition: You already are firmly rooted. From this basis, you are progressively building relationship with Christ to the end that your faith is established—established today, and further tomorrow, and greater still the next day. Christ is faithful, and each day you cultivate your relationship with Him, the more understanding, awareness, and demonstration of faithfulness you grasp and exhibit.
Notice as well that faithful living is fundamentally the same as the manner in which you began life with Christ. When you were saved, you placed your earthly and eternal confidence solely in Him. Walking with Christ is the same proposition: Place your confidence in Him alone.
This is the basis for faithfulness. Faithfulness is not something you conjure up to do for God. Rather, faithfulness is you consistently trusting Christ to be Himself in and through you.
So, you “dwell in the land.” You embrace life and living. What role do you play in cultivating faithfulness?
First, you trust Him. For me, this plays out like this: Depending when my brain turns on for the day—somewhere between 2:00 AM and en route to the bathroom—I make this declaration: “Father, I’m trusting you today. Live through me, please.”
I think of this prayer as setting my default. I’m declaring my intent, attitude, and I’m stating my desire. With this, I’m assuming God takes me at my word.
This means two things: First, God is now responsible to live through me as He sees fit, utilizing all aspects of my personality, gifts, talents, intelligence, experience, network of contacts, and so forth to pursue His ends and my good. Second, God is responsible for letting me know if I misrepresent Him or otherwise seize control back from Him.
Next, with my default prayer stated, I also assume that the Holy Spirit is guiding me and collaborating with me as I dive into my schedule.
Candidly, I’m in the habit—for my own benefit—of breathing a subsequent prayer before the major moves in my workday. So, I declare my dependency on Father God, a) prior to reading Scripture, and b) again before I place my fingers on my keyboard, and c) as I turn my attention to afternoon correspondence. As my professional day concludes and I turn my attention to prepping dinner, d) I breathe a statement of gratitude for the day and trust for the evening. Meanwhile, I work hard, do my best, and believe by faith that the Spirit is fully involved with each aspect of every moment—unless I learn differently.
Sometimes, when I stall, or when a tricky phone call comes in, or I’m sorting on something special, etc., I will—again, for my own benefit—say either in thought or aloud, “Father, guide me please. I’m depending on you.” Otherwise, I assume God is honoring my default, is actively engaged in my processes, and will let me know if He has something particular to say to me.
Since I spend most of my time writing, let’s examine how my belief applies: Regarding the assembled words on this page: Whose are they? Where did they come from?
First, a disclaimer: I don’t hear divine dictation when I write. Given this, are the words I write my words or the Spirit’s?
I believe the answer is, yes.
I don’t hear divine dictation.
For whatever reason, God is pleased to express Himself through you and me. At the end of the day, if you, and I, and all of us who believe have trusted Father God just as we have been instructed, then together we present a kaleidoscope of God that no one can present alone. God is delighted to demonstrate Himself through each of us in ways as unique as our thumb prints and is enthralled by presenting our collective trust in Him to the world at large.
So, who’s living my life: God or me? The answer is, yes. The key distinctive is that up front I established my attitude of divine reliance and stated my desire: “Father God, please live through me and guide me today.”
If I lose my default and choose to walk after the flesh, God is on the hook to let me know, at which time, I’m on the hook to own my failure, adjust course, and reset my default. Otherwise, God and I dance the day to the music that’s played.
In this manner, God is faithful to me. Through me, He is showcased as faithful to anyone looking on and wondering how I approach life. This is what I believe cultivating faithfulness means.
In addition to establishing my default prayer first thing, I subsequently place myself in position to faithfully listen to God and interact with Him about life, both His and mine. The primary means for this are detailed in my book, Rigorous Grace: Practicing the Life of Jesus. The twelve practices I discuss in the book mirror the routine practices of our Older Brother, Jesus. Each practice places me in position to meet with God on a known path He frequents. By showing up routinely, I cultivate faithfulness twelve different ways, each of which nurtures—cultivates—a different aspect of knowing and understanding God and my relationship with Him.
In turn, this personal cultivation of faithfulness equips me to be a compelling advocate for Father and His Kingdom, both inside the family of God and outside in the unbelieving community.
By now, anyone with a pulse realizes all is not well in society. This isn’t exactly a news flash, but it is a new situation for us. What we are experiencing in Western society is not unprecedented—we’ve been here before—but it is unlike anything that anyone living has experienced. And who knows what’s going on? The people representing us have an approval rating of 8%, our media brazenly lie to us… and you know the rest of this story.
This is disorienting—and for good reason. But the message delivered by disorientation is important to properly assess. Look at circumstances and the strong inclination is to panic—which manifests itself in things like anger, hostility, depression, anxiety, self-harm, isolation, etc. But look to Him who is faithful, fix your focus, lock on to Him, and you will walk confidently, securely, faithfully.
We dwell in the land. We participate in society and engage with government. But we cultivate faithfulness through dependence upon our heavenly Father and reliance upon the indwelling power of the Spirit. While society spins and fractures, we are steady-as-she goes. In this way, we are semper fidelis.
Update: Thank you for praying for my friend, Päivi Räsänen, the Finnish politician charged with crimes for quoting the Bible and publication of a pamphlet on biblical marriage. After yet another round in court, Päivi was once again found innocent. Still though, as she noted in an email to me, the effects of this five-year assault on freedom has had a chilling effect on free speech in Finland. Let’s pray that the prosecutor calls it quits and leaves Päivi alone, but as she notes, the prosecutor can appeal to the Supreme Court of Finland, and if he loses there, can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Should this occur, Päivi is prepared to defend herself and the exercise of fundamental rights.
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