As we prepare our hearts for a time of confession this morning, I return to Galatians chapter five, where Paul speaks of the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in us to produce lives that exhibit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and now today's focus, faithfulness, faithfulness. What should faithfulness look like in our lives according to the Bible? Consider some synonyms for faithfulness like reliability, trustworthiness, consistency, dependability, fidelity. Can those all be said of us? Now we know what it doesn't look like when we see the world with full of cases of unfaithfulness, right? I saw a story this week about a politician, I won't name them, who was caught embezzling something like $700,000 from the state. And then he was using it to go on luxury vacations with his mistress while his wife was in apparently destitute conditions financially. Now the problem with cases like that is, while it does call to mind Solomon saying in Proverbs 20 verse six, many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man, who can find? But when we look at those cases, we don't compare it with ourselves, because we look pretty good compared to that. But there's a dramatic case versus what's much more normal for us. See, we see those big cases, those big things, and we think, well, yeah, the stakes are so high there. So that's where faithfulness is really needed. When the stakes are high, that's where it's important. So as a spouse, I need to not cheat on my partner. That's what faithfulness is. If I'm a CEO, I shouldn't embezzle from the company, of course. If I'm a public servant, I shouldn't lie or defraud to cover up bribes and other things. Well, of course, faithfulness is needed in all those cases. But when we consider ourselves in that light, we think, well, I'm not doing any of that stuff. I'm not unfaithful in any of my ways. So our eyes glaze over when we see passages about faithfulness, because we're doing okay. But what happens when we feel the small stuff in our lives kind of creep up? What happens when the stakes are low, and it doesn't feel that important to be faithful? Well, you may not embezzle money from your company, but what happens when you're on the clock and maybe you're scrolling Facebook at work for a little bit too long? What about the many paid online streaming subscription services for music or movies that you and three or four friends maybe share the same logon, not paying for it? Now, Jesus teaching in Luke 16 10 says this, one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. And one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. See, Jesus says the small stuff is just as important. I knew a guy who told me one time, speaking of men's innate ability and drive to protect their families, he said, I would take a bullet for my wife, but don't ask me to help with the laundry. And so I chuckled, but then he carried on and said, no, no, I'm serious. I kind of take care of those big things, so I shouldn't be bothered or should be asked. And I told my wife, don't ask me to do stuff like that. Now see, it's easy to proclaim faithfulness for grand battles that you may never have to fight, but it's much harder to faithfully serve in love in everyday ways. Now in Psalm 15, David describes a righteous man as someone who swears to his own hurt and does not change. In other words, if a faithful man promises something, he does it. He makes good on it and doesn't change, even if it hurts him, even if it costs him a little bit more than he originally thought. Now, when I read that, I think, well, right. If I sign up for a car loan contract, I want to make good on it, right? I'm going to do everything I can to make those payments to honor that commitment. And that's great. And I think most of us do that. But what about the small stuff that we promise sometimes? What about for one of our children that say, hey, will you go outside with me? Hey, will you play the game with me? And we say, yeah, yeah, sure, yeah. Give me a little bit, and this afternoon we'll totally do that. And you mean it, but then you're not really careful with your time. The afternoon slips by, and all of a sudden, ooh, it's time for dinner. You missed that slot that you promised. Is that being faithful to our word? One more example, Proverbs 25, 14. Like clouds and wind without rain, is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give. Now this might call to mind an example of a politician, right? Promises, if you'll vote for me, I'll do all these wonderful things, right? He's quick to say he'll do something. He's glad to boast about it, and very glad to get quick upfront praise. Oh, you'll do that? Well, you're the man that we need, right? But somehow, once he gets into office, it never quite happens. He never quite gets around to that promise. Again, we think of those cases and say, yeah, I don't do anything like that. Are we so sure? Here's a small example. Have you ever been talking with a friend who's going through a hard time and talking about all the things they're working on, and almost instinctually you say, you know what? I'm really going to pray for you this week. And you mean it, but then the week gets a little busy. And you didn't take that commitment quite so seriously. You know, you didn't write it down. You didn't put a calendar entry. You didn't put a reminder. And you meant well, but you just got busy. What happens that next week? You see their face in the hallway, and you go, I totally forgot to pray for that person. If we're honest with ourselves, we can be and often are unfaithful in many different ways. Ways that we've convinced ourselves are too small to count as such. But we serve a God who's surrounded by faithfulness. Moreover, he's constantly faithful in the smallest things. God tells Job in chapters 38 and 39 how he provides food for young ravens and birds. He counts down the months of a pregnant deer giving birth to its fawn. Not a sparrow, one of the kind of lowliest of birds, can fall to the ground without his knowledge or plan. And for everyone in this room, undoubtedly he is faithfully upholding tens of millions of microscopic cells, right, that is allowing us to breathe our next breath in this room. So despite our natural tendency toward unfaithfulness, God graciously works to enable us to be more faithful like him through the power of the Holy Spirit. Lamentations 327 encourages us this way by saying, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Praise God that he is patient, kind, and good to us in his faithfulness and steadfast love, that we might bear the same fruit in our lives. This reminds us for our need to confess our sins, so let's do so now, silently remembering that our God is gracious, merciful, and forgiving.