God Is Always Faithful

Timothy 2:11-13
Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him.
If we disown him, he will also disown us;
if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

This can seem a little scary, can’t it, this "trustworthy saying"? It seems as though there is so much we have to do, before God will "return the favor," so to speak. But really, this passage is here to give us hope, to help us see that in all we suffer and all we endure, God sees it and rewards us for it. It gives a warning as well, reminding us that if we disown Him, and do not acknowledge Him in our lives, then He will not acknowledge us.

My favorite part of this passage is in the last three lines - even if we are faithless, He will be faithful. Everything else in this passage seems to be tit-for-tat, so to speak, but this last line gives us a glimpse of the Father’s character that is so foundational, we would all do well to memorize it. No matter what - no matter the situation, no matter the mistake, no matter where we are - God is faithful. Why? Because it is part of His "definition," it is who He is, and He cannot deny that - He cannot deny Himself.

Unlike us, God is not wishy-washy. He does not vacillate back and forth between being one thing and then another. He is who He is, and He will not be otherwise. It is good to know these traits, to be able to see who God is, because that is what we can rely on. In a world that always leaves us wondering "what next?" it is good to know that our God does not waver, He does not change. We worship a God that is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and in that I find great hope, and great encouragement.