FROM INFIDELITY TO FAITHFULNESS (7 OF 9)
by Ed Rowell
Scripture: GALATIANS 5:22
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From Infidelity to Faithfulness (7 of 9)
Extreme Makeover
Ed Rowell
Galatians 5:22
November 7, 2004
The pain of infidelity
* Me
* Grace
* Serial adulterer who told me, "She exaggerates. I've been faithful to her way more often than I've been unfaithful."
* God
Hosea 1:2 says "When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD."
Describing the people of Israel, God says, "A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God." Hosea 4:12
Do you think that spirit of prostitution might be alive and well today among God's people? Do you think that most of us who profess to be followers of Christ are guilty of infidelity from time to time? Do you think we, on occasion, put our trust in other things besides God's power and mercy? Do you think that we give freely to other things that which really belongs to God--our time, energy, money? Does the passion with which we pursue other things, recreation, politics, business, show that perhaps God is not our first love?
Galatians 5:22 (NIV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..."
English is a strange language. You would think that full of faith and faithful would be the same thing. They are not. They are related, but they are not the same things. To be full of faith is to have faith. To be faithful is to keep the faith others have placed in you. Everybody appreciates the person who is faithful, who will never betray a trust and never fail to keep a commitment.
Faith requires faithfulness--or it leads to disaster. If you've ever trusted a financial advisor and get a crook; ever trusted a doctor and got a quack; ever trusted a spouse and got an adulterer; ever trusted a child and get a liar, then you feel deeply this morning about the importance of faithfulness a ...
Extreme Makeover
Ed Rowell
Galatians 5:22
November 7, 2004
The pain of infidelity
* Me
* Grace
* Serial adulterer who told me, "She exaggerates. I've been faithful to her way more often than I've been unfaithful."
* God
Hosea 1:2 says "When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD."
Describing the people of Israel, God says, "A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God." Hosea 4:12
Do you think that spirit of prostitution might be alive and well today among God's people? Do you think that most of us who profess to be followers of Christ are guilty of infidelity from time to time? Do you think we, on occasion, put our trust in other things besides God's power and mercy? Do you think that we give freely to other things that which really belongs to God--our time, energy, money? Does the passion with which we pursue other things, recreation, politics, business, show that perhaps God is not our first love?
Galatians 5:22 (NIV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..."
English is a strange language. You would think that full of faith and faithful would be the same thing. They are not. They are related, but they are not the same things. To be full of faith is to have faith. To be faithful is to keep the faith others have placed in you. Everybody appreciates the person who is faithful, who will never betray a trust and never fail to keep a commitment.
Faith requires faithfulness--or it leads to disaster. If you've ever trusted a financial advisor and get a crook; ever trusted a doctor and got a quack; ever trusted a spouse and got an adulterer; ever trusted a child and get a liar, then you feel deeply this morning about the importance of faithfulness a ...
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