Faithfulness

A few days ago I wrote about pornography. For adults, I believe that is a part of the larger package of faithfulness. It's about being completely emotionally faithful to our spouses, our children, and our God. When we allow ourselves to be distracted or led astray by the things of this world we make compromises that wear down our love and commitment to those ideals and people we cherish most. Faithfulness runs far deeper than our outward actions. It begins with our words, our thoughts and our eyes. It is a battle which begins with the smallest of things. Like so many other slippery slopes, however, even the smallest of things can result in our tumbling headlong over a precipice of shadow. My thought for today, then, is that we should strive to be faithful in every corner of our lives. Those who question our convictions are eager to see us fall, and those whom we care most about are counting on us to be strong and overcome every manor of temptation. That is the tension that any man or woman of character must deal with on a daily, even an hourly basis. Let us be true to those things and people we cherish and make each day a testament to our faithful commitment. When we endeavor to achieve wholehearted faithfulness, the rewards are great for those who stay the course.

Faithfulness
There are two kinds of faithfulness
That make a heart beat true
The first is obvious enough
It is what we say and do
Yet deep beneath the surface
Of our smooth exterior
Another battle rages
For the Faithful and the pure
Where secret thoughts lay smoldering
And demons fan the flame
Of desires long forgotten
Which we thought we overcame
There, within the hearts of hearts
At the core of you and me
Another faithfulness is forged
Which only God can see
A faithfulness so deep and pure
No demon can devour
Or shake the loyalty it yields
Even in the darkest hour
But far too often actions cloak
The way we truly feel
We live a life of faithfulness
And others praise our zeal
Yet, unbeknown to all of them
Is the hate, the lust, the pride
Which festers deep within us
And we struggle so to hide
Masking them with good intentions
Of the very highest sort
While in our hearts we maim and kill
We frolic and cavort
But dreams and wishes left unchecked
Grow stronger by the day
Eroding moral character
And chipping it away
Until our judgement falters
And intoxicating lies
Cloud our vision and we stumble
To the brink of compromise
Where the faithful dare not tarry
For here their predecessors fell
Since often minds allowed to wander
Drag the body there as well
And once we become entangled
In the web temptation spins
The situation worsens
And unfaithfulness begins
For even if we catch ourselves
Before we go astray
Alas, we've done so in our hearts
And do so every day
So I propose that faithfulness
Goes beyond our outward deeds
For in the end the harvest
Will be traced back to the seeds
And only those who strive
To nurture purity within
Their hearts are truly faithful
For here faithfulness begins
And in the end our lives will show
What our hearts have always known
And those who've trusted in us
Will finally reap what we have sown
So now I strive for faithfulness
As I battle unseen foes
Who seek to rob me of it
In ways God only knows
But I realize that everything
I stand for is at stake
So I strengthen my resolve
For nothing less than Heaven's sake
For I fervently desire
To prove worthy of the trust
Of my God, my wife, my country
And I shall, I simply must
By Frank Carpenter ©