Fruit of the Spirit - Faithfulness

Faithfulness in marriage is, first and foremost, living out our marital commitment with unbreakable fidelity for the sake of our family and the Church. In the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et spes (48), it states: “Thus a man and a woman, who by their compact of conjugal love "are no longer two, but one flesh" (Matt. 19:ff), render mutual help and service to each other through an intimate union of their persons and of their actions. Through this union they experience the meaning of their oneness and attain to it with growing perfection day by day. As a mutual gift of two persons, this intimate union and the good of the children impose total fidelity on the spouses and argue for an unbreakable oneness between them.”

Our marital strength builds up the lives of our children and builds up the “Body of Christ,’ the Church. However, our bigger acts of faithfulness need to flow from the smaller acts of faithfulness that each of us are faced with daily. Each choice we make daily, to live out our love and commitment with our spouse, while at the same time guarding our hearts from sin and division, strengthens our resolve for the bigger trials we will face. When our relationship is strained and weakened by lies, secrets, harshness, sarcasm, frustration, anger, and such, it can cause our hearts to be vulnerable to temptations that can destroy our union if acted upon.

So everyday work on building up your faithfulness in marriage. Tell the truth immediately no matter how hard it may be. Apologize quickly and sincerely. Be gentle in your responses and gentle in your disappointments. Follow through with your promises and always be a person of your word. Give when it is easy but also when it is hard. Live out your marital oath of being true in good times and in bad, in sickness and when physically sound, when money is plentiful and when it is sparse, with a resolve to do all of this until death.

ACTION STEP: This week, seek to live out daily the small acts of faithfulness for your spouse and your marriage. Seek to do them with joy.