Are You Faithful or Unreliable?

Do you ever encounter people who are just unreliable? Many years ago I had a friend who would cancel our plans about 80% of the time. She was so unreliable that I could rely on her unreliability! My husband and I used to joke about it often, but it did truly wound me as a friend when I couldn’t count on her. She became untrustworthy. In fact, she and I are no longer in relationship BECAUSE she was not a faithful friend.

Faithfulness, reliability, loyalty, and commitment are very lacking among so many self-proclaimed Christians these days. David’s prayer in Psalm 12:1 seems to still ring true…

“Help, LORD, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.” Psalm 12:1 (NIV)

I recently read a daily devotional on this very topic. Consequently, this post is inspired by that devotion by Judy Jacobs, “7 Days of Preparing for Great Exploits—Day 5”.

“Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.” 1 Corinthians 4:2 (ESV)

In her devotion, Judy Jacobs says that “Faithfulness was the mainstay of being a steward in Paul’s day; and—beyond a shadow of a doubt—it still is.”^[1] Faithfulness, commitment, reliability, and loyalty should be one of many defining characteristics of followers of Christ. Faithfulness, in fact, is a fruit of the spirit that we should all operate in and display.

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)

How about you? Can people count on you? Are you faithful?

A poor reflection of Jesus

There are many negative consequences to being unreliable. One especially unwanted outcome of Christians who aren’t faithful is that it can give Christians (and Christ) a bad name. Having a lack of integrity in work ethic and/or reliability does not represent Jesus well. I’ve seen this (and written about this before) in a collegiate setting where students professed to be Christians, but then consistently showed up to class late or even missed class regularly. These same students put little to no effort into assignments and often had apathetic and lazy attitudes that were apparent. These types of students were a very negative reflection to other students and professors who knew they were Christians.

I LOVE the way the Message translation of Colossians 3:22-25 reads:

“Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by.  Do your best.  Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance.  Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ.  The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.”

Other negative ramifications of being unreliable

Another negative outcome of being unreliable is that we might be acting as a bad role model to those who may look up to us (our children, our students, our subordinates, our peers, etc.). Then we should also point out that our lack of faithfulness can be a hindrance to others and even cost them something. We can put others in a bind when we back out or don’t follow through. Anybody that has ever worked on a group project with someone who didn’t pull their weight knows this full well.

Additionally, being unreliable leads to broken trust in our relationships. When people start to believe that they can’t rely on us, it will begin to affect the relationship and potentially even damage it. This very well could cost promotions at work as well. I’ve seen this happen with coworkers who lacked some faithfulness and reliability.

Sowing seeds of unfaithfulness for yourself

When we are not faithful or are unreliable, disloyal, or can’t be counted on for our commitments, we could also be sowing seeds for those very things in our own life. The Bible says we reap what we sow. Basically, it means that whatever you are giving out, we can expect to get back in return.

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” Galatians 6:7 (ESV)

“My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same.” Job 4:8 (NLT)

“So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.” Proverbs 1:31 (BSB)

If we aren’t faithful and trustworthy, people may be unfaithful to us. If we are unreliable, we may encounter and experience unreliable people in our own life. Our own disloyalty might bring people into our life who aren’t loyal. Additionally, when we don’t keep our commitments to others, people may not keep their commitments to us.

Now, this is obviously not true in every case. Some people that we encounter are just unreliable, due to no fault of our own. This is merely an option to consider…and a good reason to avoid this behavior ourselves. There are already enough unreliable people in the world—we don’t need to invite even more into our lives by our own behavior!

Example of faithfulness returned

When David was a faithful servant of Saul, the Lord sent him faithful people that he needed later. David has some especially faithful people called his mighty men, and they would do anything for him. In fact, 2 Samuel 23 tells a story of David’s mighty men breaking into an enemy camp to get David a drink of water just because he mentioned he was thirsty. His mighty men would do anything for him. They were extremely loyal, reliable, committed, and faithful.

These are the same characteristics that David exemplified first. David even remained loyal in difficult circumstances. Actually, “difficult circumstances” is a terrible understatement because he was being pursued to be killed, yet he remained faithful even to the one trying to kill him in order to honor and respect the Lord.

“So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and all his other relatives joined him there. Then others began coming—men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented—until David was the captain of about 400 men.” 1 Samuel 22:1-2 (NLT)

“David remarked longingly to his men, “Oh, how I would love some of that good water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem.” So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew some water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out as an offering to the LORD. “The LORD forbid that I should drink this!” he exclaimed. “This water is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it to me.” So David did not drink it. These are examples of the exploits of the Three.” 2 Samuel 23:15-17 (NLT)

When we are faithful

If we are faithful, God will be faithful to us. We are rewarded, blessed, and avoid destruction when we are found faithful.

“To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless” Psalm 18:25 (NIV)

“A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.” Proverbs 28:20 (ESV)

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 (NLT)

“You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.” Hebrews 10:36 (BSB)

“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.” Proverbs 11:3 (NIV)

Take Some Practical Steps to Be Faithful:

• First, realize the importance of faithfulness. Good stewards, followers of Christ MUST be found faithful!

“Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.” 1 Corinthians 4:2 (ESV)

• Next, take an honest assessment of yourself.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• • • Do you frequently cancel on people (especially last minute)?
    • Are you ever a no-show with no prior communication?
    • Do you show up late?
    • Are there times when you don’t put in the work ethic, time, or work required?
    • Do you keep your commitments?
    • Can people count on you?
    • Would others consider you “flaky”?
    • At work do you call in a lot, show up late, or leave early?
    • Do you job hop?
    • Do you frequently change romantic partners?
    • Here’s a fun question…If you were a wireless device (i.e. your phone, a laptop, or maybe even a WiFi router), how reliable would that device be? Would you want to use a device with the level of YOUR reliability?
    • Do you have friends, family members, coworkers, clients, customers, patients, etc. that either cancel on you, cancel on you last minute, no show, show up late, don’t put in the work ethic or the time required or work required? Do you have people in your life that you just feel like you can’t count on? If you answered yes to any of these there is a possibility that you might be reaping what you sow. It might be time to start assessing what kind of seeds you are planting.

• Also, ask God to assess you. Pray Psalm 139:23-24. Then pay attention to what God reveals to you.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)

• Then know that this is not to condemn you.

Assessing yourself is pointing out the areas in your life that you need to work on. You can start right now, make a choice and start taking steps towards being faithful, loyal, reliable, and committed. Then, don’t sit around self-condemning, sulking, and beating yourself up. Move forward by doing the right thing from here on out.

• If you HAVE to back out…

IF there are genuine and legitimate occasions that require you to cancel, show up late, back out of a commitment, etc., be sure you communicate in advance, apologize sincerely, and don’t make it a habit. These actions should be the exception, not the norm if you are truly faithful.

• Finally, to be faithful sometimes you have to do things even when you don’t FEEL like it.

Unfortunately, many of us become unreliable just because it’s sometimes too inconvenient to keep our commitments. There are times when being a faithful follower of Christ, and just being faithful in general, will require us to encounter some inconveniences and make sacrifices.

One of the greatest compliments that we can receive will be to one day hear, as we stand before God, “Well done, good and FAITHFUL servant.”

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” Matthew 25:21 (ESV)

Are you faithful? What are some things that stood out to you in this post? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below!

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1. Jacobs, Judy. “7 Days of Preparing for Great Exploits—Day 5.” YouVersion, www.bible.com/reading-plans/15546-7-days-of-preparing-for-great-exploits/day/5. ↑