Spotlight 2/2018 – The two pillars of faith
Christ’s faithfulness to mankind is a strong foundation on which our faith and our love rest like two pillars. This is how District Apostle Koberstein (Western Germany) interprets the 2018 motto.
“Faithful to Christ” is not only a good motto for the year 2018, but a daily task. For me it is clear: faithfulness to Christ is only possible because Christ is faithful! This is what my faithfulness is built on. Because I am able to recognise how faithful Christ is and all that He has done for me, the desire is awakened in me to be faithful to Him.
He is the foundation for my faithfulness: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3: 11). He is my safety net. If everything around me threatens to collapse and I feel abandoned by everyone and am desperate, then He is there for me. This is an expression of His faithfulness!
The pillar of faith
Christ’s faithfulness is the foundation on which we can build our pillars. I am going to mention two. First of all there is the pillar of faith. We go through phases in life in which the Lord is very close to us. We experience His help, have success, and everything is fine. We recognise God’s faithfulness in this and praise Him for it. But there are also times in which we rather doubt the presence of God and wonder where He is. And sometimes we may even think that He has forgotten us completely.
Precisely then we need this pillar of faith. It gives us the certainty that God never forgets us. It gives us support and assures us that God loves us and cares for us, even if we do not understand the course our life is currently taking. Our faith consistently confirms and recognises the faithfulness of the Lord, regardless of what my life situation may be.
The pillar of love
The second pillar on the foundation of Christ’s faithfulness is our love. Love makes being faithful easy. Love is a source of strength that helps us remain faithful. The more I can recognise the activity of Christ the more I feel the need to love Him.
- When I recognise all that He has done for me—He left the throne of God and sacrificed His life for me—then I simply must love Him.
- When I recognise all that He does for me every day—He defends me in front of His Father and grants me grace and forgiveness—all I can do is love Him.
- And when I recognise what His plans are for me in future—He has promised to return to transform those who have remained faithful to Him—then all I can do is love Him.
At the same time, our love for Him is a great help in waiting for the return of Christ. Waiting is often difficult. Let us follow the example of Jacob, of whom it says: “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her” (Genesis 29: 20).
Love makes waiting for the Lord seem shorter and it helps us to remain faithful!
Photo: Jessica Krämer