The next two points on the circle surrounding the cross are Loyalty and Courage.
Whew! Are those hard to maintain!!
As humans, we all have something we are loyal to. Our jobs. Our spouses. Our family. Our commitment to a leader we believe in. It’s easy to be loyal in any of those scenarios, but to be loyal in faith is the hardest ask of loyalty there is.
We are asked, as human beings to believe in something we cannot see, cannot touch, and cannot hear. We are to trust in the words on the page of a precious book and believe in the stories dancing among those pages. We are to have faith, just a tiny spark of faith the size of a mustard seed to believe in something so large, so dynamic, our minds cannot fully comprehend it.
Remember the Samaritans of old I told you about at the beginning of this blog series? The Samaritans got to witness first hand the stories told in those pages. They are our example of living a life that loyal and faithful. But, they did not do it alone in the individual sense. They were a community that stood strong together. They were loyal together.
This is also true for the Samaritans in Christ. We are a loyal group of believers. Individually, we each have our faith; our trust in the stories of the ages. We are of one mind about what it means to have faith, and we serve due to our faith. This service as a group, a ministry, helps us to experience a level of loyalty like no other. Our love and faith helps us to be loyal to the goal of the group; loving others as our Creator loves us.
But, loyalty takes courage. Whoa, that’s hard to write! I do not have courage like some of the other group members. I am a chicken at heart who would rather serve her Creator and share a love for others from behind the pen I put to paper. Being a part of this group, however, helps me to have the courage to show my faith in a more outward way. Because of this, I feel more loyal to my Creator and also to my group of amazing people that has helped me to grow so much already in my short time with them.
I used to hide my faith and loyalty, not because I was ashamed, but because today’s world scares me. I was lacking the courage to trust in my faith.
I believe in timing, and the timing of this group showing itself to me was perfectly placed. It also helped that I consider one of the founding members to be my bestie!! I know now, I needed the reminder that I need to trust in my faith and not be afraid to share it. I have been a part of ministry things before and that can be such an ugly area to exist in. But this group, this amazing, wonderful group of people has the most authentic love of people and the Creator I have ever experienced. They do not hesitate to pray for or take care of others. They do not hesitate to put together a fund raiser for someone in need or help a family simply have a meal to eat. They do not hesitate about accepting me as I am into their space and I love them for it.
Loyalty and courage really go hand in hand. Without one, you cannot have the other. Our group is loyal to our Creator, loyal to each other, and loyal to helping others. Our courage may faulter as individuals (talking about myself here), but our courage together cannot be measured!
