Principles – “Faithfulness” – 5/12/2015

   They say that faithfulness may hold many meanings, one of them is loyalty. Faithfulness is a characteristic that crowns humanity. It indicates honesty of words and actions. A faithful person is the one who appreciates the value of integrity and adopts it as a basic life principle. They say faithful persons are those who hold on to their honesty and loyalty and they resemble unshakable and unchangeable mountains.
   According to the Arabic lexicon, Mu’jam al-Ma’any al-Jama’a, The word” Faithfulness” or “Wafa’a” in Arabic means loyalty, sincerity, recognition of favor, honesty, constancy and keeping one’s word and its antonym is the Arabic word “Ghadr” or “unfaithfulness”. An honest or faithful person is known for his devoted and impeccable manners. Another meaning for faithfulness in the lexicon is loyalty or commitment to one’s oath and its synonyms are honesty, sincerity, uprightness, righteousness, devotion, truthfulness and obedience. Disloyalty have many synonyms too like betray, breach, breaking or violating an oath.
Man can learn faithfulness from God-Glory be to His Name- as it is one of His Attributes, as the Bible says “ “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness”. In Qur’an too “And for all there are degrees [of reward and punishment] for what they have done, and [it is] so that He may fully compensate them for their deeds, and they will not be wronged.”

Faithfulness to God:

   God is Gracious. He showers us with His Gifts. A faithful person should recognize God’s gifts and thank Him for them and tries to use everything according to its original purpose. If God grants a person a natural gift like intelligence or even an acquired one like high status or money, he should use these talents for a good purpose and for the progress of humanity not for destruction or evil actions.

Being Honest:

   Being honest toward yourself requires keeping God’s beautiful characteristics that He created in you like love, mercy, justice, honesty toward yourself and others and bears their fruits in eternity as God will reward you for your effort and toil for others.

Loyalty to others:

   They say that loyalty is a crown over man’s head even if wearing it causes them pain they would never remove it. It is their life principle that they can’t live without it as it turns into a style of their honest and devoted life. They don’t wait for people’s praise, but for God’s reward as he rewards each person according to his good or bad deeds.
   People’s honesty toward others is represented in their faithfulness of keeping promises and commitment to their duties. It is not measured by words but rather by actions and personal attitudes in the situations that witness for their faithfulness. It can’t be measured by time but by constancy whether in the presence or absence of people. Unfaithfulness causes people great pain thus someone wrote that “Be faithful as unfaithfulness is unforgettable”
Life is full of unforgettable stories of faithfulness for example the 80-year old man who stayed faithful for his Alzheimer-diagnosed wife. He was keen on eating breakfast daily with her, though she can’t recognize him. When someone wandered about it, he said “she doesn’t know who I am but I know who she is.” It is that kind of faithfulness that crowns humanity. So, don’t forget, dear reader, that you are human.

Anba Ermiah,
General Bishop& President of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center