S47P7 – A show of faithfulness: by way of God’s children
3 John 1:5-8
Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
He sincerely expected that his father would have counted him as a loyal and faithful son. When dad needed help with something around the house, he was there to chip in happily. Whether it was his curfew or his chores, he obeyed what his father told him. That is why he was surprised to hear that his father thought otherwise, but there was a very good reason for that. This was not the only child that the father had, and although the son always treated his father with respect and kindness, he did not treat his brothers and sisters the same way. In the son’s eyes, his faithfulness to the father was separate and unrelated to his treatment of his brothers and sisters. To the father, however, the son could not be loyal to him without being loyal to his other children as well.
It may be common for us to think of only God when we think of being faithful to him. We may start to think about our personal relationship with him and how we treat him in terms of respect and prayer. We think about the time that we spend with him and whether we are being good stewards of all of the gifts that He gives us. However, we must also remember that our faithfulness to God is not measured only by our direct interaction with him. Being faithful to God often comes by our loyalty to and honor of other people, especially the body of Christ. The way we treat God’s children and royal priesthood is a reflection of our honor for him. If we respect him and are loyal to him, then we should respect and be loyal to his children. To be faithful to God, we must be faithful to support each other.
Scripture tells us that we are each the representation of Jesus Christ walking the Earth today. When other people look at us, we want them to see Jesus in us. When we interact with them, we want Jesus to be interacting with them. This requires our being faithful to obey God and the commands He gives regarding our treatment of others. Even Jesus himself speaks of how He is served when we serve those who are imprisoned and hungry [Matt. 25:35-36]. It is not always about how we treat God directly, but it is always about how we behave in accordance with his standards. Our interactions and relationships with each other are a very large part of that. In honoring our brothers and sisters we honor our Father. Father, please help us grow in our faithfulness to You by being loyal to your sons and daughters.