Spiritual Maturity Step 10: Be Faithful • DDCommunity

Be Faithful: Stand Firm, Endure, and Persevere

To be faithful means persevering in our walk with Christ, standing firm in His truth, and living out His Word with endurance.

As an example, brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful (James 5:10–11 NASB). And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life (1 John 5:11–12 NASB). Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts (1 John 5:21 NLT).

Be Faithful to Grow in Christlikeness

Finally, above all, be faithful to growing in Christlikeness. God is faithful. The faithfulness of God endures all day long (Ps. 52:1 NASB). And as we are committed to growing in Christlikeness, we persevere in faithfulness to God and following His Word. We patiently endure with God’s people. We are wholeheartedly devoted to our family. And we live responsibly so that all around us see evidence that we are faithful to God because I trust in the faithfulness of God forever and ever. (Ps. 52:8 NASB)

So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father; and subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. (Eph. 5:15–21 NASB)

Remain Faithful to God

For this reason we also, since the day we heard about it, have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all perseverance and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Col. 1:9–12 NASB)

I direct you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without fault or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. (1 Tim. 6:13–16 NASB)

Endure to the End

Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them (Luke 12:37 CSB).

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not among those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith for the safekeeping of the soul (Heb. 10:36–39 NASB). But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing, and will do, what we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the perseverance of Christ (2 Thess. 3:3–5 NASB).

Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:1–2 NASB). Because you have kept My word of perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of the testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who live on the earth (Rev. 3:10 NASB).

Persevere in Godliness

Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make His deeds known among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonders. Boast in His holy name; may the heart of those who seek the Lord be joyful. Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face continually. Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments spoken by His mouth. He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations (Ps. 105:1–5, 7–8 NASB). Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy is everlasting (Ps. 106:1 NASB).

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way that I ought to proclaim it (Col. 4:2–4 NASB). The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also (2 Tim. 2:2 NASB).