faithful?

What does it mean to be faithful? We throw this word around a lot...I think we take the meaning for granted. Faithfulness has to do with being trustworthy. It has to do with being reliable. It involves loyalty, truth and dependability. We expect faithfulness from our spouse, from our leaders, from our business relationships. What happens when our expectations of faithfulness aren't met? The result is pain, disappointment and broken relationship.

I have recently been thinking a lot about the importance of faithfulness, 1) because I am about to be married and have expectations that my future spouse will be faithful to me for the rest of our lives and 2) because my pastor since 1999 just announced he has been in an adulterous relationship with a woman on staff who was also my friend for about that long. If a man, called to be a pastor, cannot remain faithful to his commitments, to his calling, to his wife - what hope do the rest of us have? It seems like such a risky venture to put your heart in someone's hands and hope they don't crush it. I'm in the world of higher education (academia), they often talk about the "fallacy of monogamy." There are "scientists" out there who discovered that monogamy is not natural, we are animals with animal instincts and find ourselves attracted to others even when we are in a committed relationship. My response...well, duh! Sure we are attracted to others, sure we are vulnerable to temptation. If that desire, that risk were removed than faithfulness wouldn't be so valuable. It is valuable because it isn't guaranteed, because we are human and imperfect and can mess up, but instead of give in to our impulses we choose to deny those desires and commit to one person for a lifetime. That is why that commitment, those vows have value - if faithfulness were easy it wouldn't be such a big deal; it's a big deal because it isn't easy.