Faithful in the Little Things

Brad told me this story recently, which greatly blessed me and I thought I would pass it along to you.

He was at work and there was one other male co-worker with him in the store. A woman walked by the store who apparently needed some help in knowing how to dress properly. Brad saw her and turned away...and his co-worker noticed. He said to Brad, " Your wife has trained you well!" This made me laugh because I have done nothing of the kind; I can claim no credit for training him to look away from certain things. His self control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Brad has been training himself in this way for years- long before we even met. I'm just reaping the benefits of his faithfulness.

You hear people say that the world is watching you to see what a Christian is really like. But if you're like me, you sometimes catch yourself thinking," Yeah, whatever. If someone's watching me, they're just going to notice the freakish things about me that they don't understand and can't relate to and be alienated and weirded out." ( Okay- maybe that's a little bit exaggerated, but I do often think something in that general vein.) But this little incident really made an impact on the way I think about being faithful in the little things. Brad wasn't trying to demonstrate anything to his co-worker; he didn't preach a sermon to him. With the simple act of turning his head, he was acting on his habit of maintaining purity. And someone happened to notice - one time out of the hundred thousand times.

I don't think this co-worker is a Christian, and even if he thinks I am responsible for my husband's actions, instead of the credit going to Brad and the Holy Spirit, it still distinguishes Brad from the rest of the masses, as someone who is faithful to his wife ( a remarkable phenomena itself in this society), to say nothing of being faithful to God. For this I am grateful and proud.

It also encouraged me to be faithful in being modest. Sometimes I really do find myself thinking it's not such a big deal to be so careful. But if someone notices a man's effort to be pure, surely somebody might also notice a woman's effort to promote purity- even if it is manifested differently. And purity is such a rare and almost unheard of concept today, that people definitely take notice. It points to something beyond the person making the choice; it points to God. "...pure as HE is pure."

Nothing we do for God is wasted or unnoticed. Even if no one else sees what we do or understands WHY we do it, God DOES and He appreciates it, more than we know.