“To be faithful means to be absolutely true to one’s word, to be totally loyal in one’s devotion, to be completely steadfast and unswerving in one’s own calling and vocation. It also means to remain in humble service, in truth and in love, no matter what the conditions or consequences. To be faithful means to be courageous and to be and to do that which one must be and do by God’s will, regardless of any rejection by others and in spite of any lack of recognition or appreciation. God Himself is perfectly faithful. He has made promises and declared covenants, keeping His word no matter what man does. When men are adulterous and faithless, God remains faithful (cf. Jer 3, Ezek 16); for “the Lord has sworn and will not change His mind” (Ps 110.4, Heb 7.21).” (Fr. Thomas Hopko)
“…whoever remains faithful to death, Christ will give the crown of life. And that’s the most important thing for us—to have the crown of life. All the rest is vanity. Collect as much as you want of whatever you want. Do what you want. But if you depart from this world without having the crown of life, then you’re pitiful, poor, and ill-fated. And if you have the crown of life, you have this blessing of God, the notification that you’ve defeated death, that you’ve overcome it and that you’ll be with God eternally. Then you haven’t lost in your life. All the difficulties and trials that you’ve overcome have their reward in the Kingdom of God.” (Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol)
“In a world where the dominant feature is the demolition of values, doubt regarding the reality of otherworldly reality, rationalism, trust in machines, and the deification of technology, Christians are being asked to consider which chain of nobility and heroism they belong to as a link. What is the ultimate goal of their rounds of combat? Who is the judge of the tournament? It would be very easy for people, out of carelessness or indifference, to break a link in the heroic history of the faith by adapting to the seductive forces of the times. And let’s not deceive ourselves: it’s difficult- and therefore all the more important- for us to remain faithful to the principles and ideals of the Christian faith, perhaps thereby losing our prospects of worldly advancement. This is the difficult path shown to us today by all the saints, those of bygone times and today, small and great, known and unknown. And we’re called upon to be worthy successors to them in the centuries-long relay race of the Christian life.” (Ioannis Karavidopoulos)
“It is a great spiritual accomplishment to not be “conformed to this world.” The ideas and assumptions of modern consumer democracies permeate almost every aspect of our culture. They become an unavoidable part of our inner landscape. Only by examining such assumptions in the light of the larger Christian tradition can we hope to remain faithful to Christ in the truth. Those who insist on the absence of spiritual authority, or demand that nothing mediate grace will discover that their lives serve the most cruel master of all – the spirit of the age.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Great acts of heroism are usually the culmination of a life of thousands of small choices, many of which came with great struggle. It is in all these small choices—the things that don’t seem very important to us at the time—that virtue becomes habit and we gradually develop the inner resources to remain faithful in the face of more challenging circumstances and temptations.” (St. Paisios)
“When we proclaim, as Christians, that we are “saved by faith,” we all too easily mistake this for a proclamation about what we “think.” The simple fact is that, from day to day, what we “think” about God might waver, some days bordering or even lapsing into unbelief. The same can be said of a marriage. We love our spouse, though there might well be days that we wish we weren’t married. Faith (and love) are not words that indicate perfection or the lack of failure. “Faith,” in the Biblical sense, is perhaps better translated as “faithfulness.” Much the same can be said of love within a marriage. In both cases, it matters that we do not quit.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Faith in Christ is principally a matter of the heart, and then of reason. The Lord didn’t say, ‘If you understand Me’, but ‘If you love me, keep my commandments’. This means that we can understand Him to the degree that we try to love Him. Our love for Him, expressed as observance of His commandments, opens the door for Him to come and dwell in our soul and body, so that understanding Him becomes a matter of experience- the believer is literally taught by God. And, in any case, this is what He promised: the moment we keep his commandments, He appears within us; the whole of the Holy Trinity finds a ‘site’ to build a monastery. And His fundamental commandment is to have faith in Him…” (Protopresbyter Georgios Dorbarakis)
“But isn’t being part of the covenant about “having faith” or simply believing? No, it requires continuous action and loyalty. As Christ said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). He also said, “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22; 24:13; Mark 13:13). It is not faithfulness that keeps us in God’s covenant—we cannot achieve even that without His help. But it is through our faithfulness that God’s work in us is accomplished (Eph. 2:8).” (Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick)
“The spiritual person is the one who is faithful to his calling, fulfilling every good resolution, and bearing fruit patiently with the gifts and talents given by God. The spiritual person is faithful in every little thing—every thought, every word, every deed—“according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him” (Rom 12.3), “according to the measure of Christ’s gift” which is “given to each” (Eph 4.7). Such faithfulness is the main teaching in Christ’s parable of the talents. The one who faithfully and without fear develops and grows with that which the Lord has provided is the one who hears the voice of the Master.” (Fr. Thomas Hopko)
“St. Paul is clear that salvation, eternal life which comes as the reward given by our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ on the great day of his coming again as well as all of the fruits of the Spirit in this life, come to us through faithfulness (Eph 2:8-9). We do not receive these things by doing generally more good things than bad things. We do not receive these things by checking off a list of do’s and don’ts with regard to outward observance. We do not receive these things through intellectually acknowledging certain tenets and rejecting others. Christ is not for St. Paul an intellectual construct composed of theological propositions which he considered to be true. Christ is for St. Paul a person whom he encountered on multiple occasions throughout his life. These encounters and the faithful loyalty with which St. Paul responded to them transformed his entire life. ‘Faith’ is not a transaction that bestows certain benefits upon an individual human person. It is a way of living one’s entire life as a good and faithful servant of the Lord who loved us and purchased us with his own blood (Acts 20:28).” (Fr. Stephen De Young)
““We can go through life, plodding along this way, without anybody even noticing. It’s a lifestyle that doesn’t fill up trophy cases or result in monuments being created. It can, however, end with “Well done, good and faithful servant” from our Lord. The excitement is in the results of being in a position to help family and friends grow. Success comes from being in a relationship with God that means fruitfulness by His definition…Social status is unimportant to God. He is interested in faithfulness.” (Foundation Study Bible, Psalms 1:1, 1 Corinthians 7:17)
“God will often use the desert of quiet faithful service, or the prison of injustice, to permanently transform our self-confidence into Christ-confidence. It is only when control is out of our own hands and we are thrust blindly into God’s arms that He is free to teach us that He can be completely relied upon.” (Tim Burns)
“What if God was only faithful when he felt like it, only dependable part of the time, only loving on special occasions? Thank goodness, He is always faithful to His own nature. The world desperately needs to see that same kind of faithfulness in our lives.” (Lloyd John Ogilvie)
“Faithfulness in little things is a big thing.” (St. John Chrysostom)
"The Lord Jesus makes it clear that we are to manage faithfully even the smallest details and responsibilities in this life, for all is subject to His constant and ultimate scrutiny." (Dynamis 1/25/2014)
When you are tempted to think that you are the only one remaining faithful to a task, don’t stop to feel sorry for yourself. Self-pity will dilute the good you are doing. Be assured that even if you don’t know who they are, others are faithfully obeying God and fulfilling their duties.” (Life Application Study Bible, 1 Kings 19:10)
“…though we struggle on a daily basis to remain faithful to our beliefs and our God there are many who have finished this life successfully and now dwell in a place were there is no more sorrow. We are encouraged to persevere, to set our eyes on the finish line, to continue to live a life that is pleasing to God.” (Cindy Egly)
“…stay faithful at all times to the Lord, and He will reward you. Perhaps, not in your time or in your way, but He will reward us abundantly in His time, in His way.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis)
“Faithful ministry requires discipline: obedience, self-denial, and struggle.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 2 Timothy 2:3-6)
“True inspiration comes to those who have prepared themselves to receive it, those who search, those who pray, those who struggle and persevere, those who remain faithful and trust…There is no better measure of real success than Jesus’ words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Father James C. Moulketis , Mel Lawrenz)
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