Loyalty: A Paradigm Shift

I have been struck recently by this notion of loyalty. The Hebrew word we translate as “Faith” is Emunah. For years, I have advocated substituting the word trust for faith, as trust has more traction, whereas faith is somewhat vague. But now I have learned that Emunah carries with it a strong sense of “faithfulness, reliability, and loyalty.” 

To start, let’s ponder these questions: 

1. What engenders loyalty? 
2. Are ‘devoted to’ and ‘loyal to’ similar? 
3. Who are you loyal to?     Who are you devoted to? 
4. Should gratitude engender loyalty?   
5. How would loyalty influence your decisions – temptations? 

This week we will answer question #1 and next week question #4. But I hope you will take some time to ponder all five for yourself. 

I think loyalty is engendered primarily by love and by gratitude.  

Love: Perhaps it would be helpful to always include loyalty with love. It adds a certain fulness to it. For instance: 

And now these three remain: faith, hope, love and loyalty. But the greatest of these is love and loyalty. (1 Corin. 13:13, Italics added) 

“If you love me, you will be loyal to me and you will more naturally keep my commands.” (John 14:15, Italics added) 

Would you agree if we love someone, we would naturally be loyal to them? If you love me I would hope you would be loyal to me. I do not think we can have one without the other. Yet for the longest time I found it challenging to love Jesus. It was difficult to love someone I could not touch, or see.  

So I began a quest to love Jesus, and I started by just saying it—yes, just saying that I loved him. At first it felt awkward, but over time, saying it engendered feeling it. Each morning and each evening, even to this day, I start and end my day by saying, “I love you, Father. I love you, Jesus. I love you, Holy Spirit.” 

Surprise of all surprises, I now feel love – truly feel it – for all three, and it has transformed my heart, as well as my actions. Because,  

“Love is a verb, sometimes accompanied by feelings, that leads to action on behalf of its object.” (Tony Evans) 

There is an interesting passage that captures this idea of love and loyalty perfectly: 

We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. 1:3) 

Do you sense a difference between work and labor? To me, labor is harder than work. Our day-to-day “work” for Jesus is produced by our trust in Jesus. But when something is difficult, or perhaps I just do not want to do it, I am prompted by my love and loyalty.  

When I am tempted to do what I should not do, or not do what I should, I ask myself, “What would my love and my loyalty to Jesus look like in this situation?”  

The answer is always and immediately obvious. 

This simple question has the power to transform your life. So what about you? Do you love Jesus? Are you loyal to him? When the going gets tough, are you able to transform a laborious situation into a labor of love? 

Next Week: Gratitude = Loyalty