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This morning we’ll be spending time looking at the memory verse for September, which is Numbers 23:19 - God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

This verse speaks to the fact that God is always true to His word and faithful to his promises. One of the other passages we focused on this month says something very similar:

2 Corinthians 1:18-20 - But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No." ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes." ²⁰ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

God is faithful. To give a definition: God’s faithfulness is the utter reliability, firmness and constancy of God’s character, commands, and promises; his determined, steadfast loyalty toward his people and his covenant. God lives up to His promises. He follows through on His commitments. He is loyal to His people and to the covenant He makes with them. He is dependable. He is the rock.

Why does this matter? Why is it good news? Well, our faith is essentially a relationship with God. And given that, what is the importance of faithfulness to a relationship? Why do we need someone who will be faithful? What does it do for us when we have a faithful person in our life?

Think about parenting, the first realm where we learn about the importance of faithfulness. Think about what happens when a parent is not faithful to his responsibilities, when a parent abandons his child or continually disappoints him. The child learns not to trust, learns that those who are supposed to care for you will not be there for you, that eventually everyone will let you down. Without a faithful parent, the child goes into the world believing that there is no firm place to hang on to, no rock upon which to stand.

Think about a romantic relationship. What does unfaithfulness do to a romantic relationship? Trust is broken. I can not trust you because you are not true to your word; there is no integrity, no reliability. When infidelity happens, what should be a safe, stable place in your life becomes an unsafe, unstable place. I no longer know if what you say is true; I can no longer rely on you or believe the words you say. There is no firm place to hang on to, no rock upon which to stand.