"Lord, grant us:
In our work, satisfaction;
In our study, wisdom;
In our pleasure, gladness;
In our love, loyalty."
This short, but powerful, prayer written by William Barclay speaks directly to all of us.
As I was leaving Greensboro, N.C. after being there to consult with Jefferson Standard I called Bill Westfall because I had heard that his wife of 60 years had recently passed away. As soon as I got him on the phone I realized he wanted to talk about her. During her last illness he had kept her at home against everyone's advice, but he wanted to have her with him to the end. I said, "Bill, you loved her, didn't you?" He said, "I did, and I feel good for I waited on her to the end. Then one night she went to sleep and didn't wake up." In their love they had found loyalty.
Eating in a country cafe in Grand Saline, Texas, home of the world-famous house constructed entirely of salt blocks, there was a fortyish couple sitting next to me. Obviously they were farm people and when he got up to pay the bill he came back to her and stood a minute, then reached down and lifted her up physically. As she put her arms around his neck and he backed out the cafe door to put her in the pickup, I realized she had a full body brace, totally unable to stand. As we all looked, not saying anything, the waitress commented, "He took his vows seriously, didn't he?"
Loyalty, not passion, is the greatest evidence of love. We find this kind of loyal love in good families where they really are friends. Scripture phrases it this way: "there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother." I don't know of any better relationship than a brother and a friend.
Oftentimes I like to ask others, as well as myself, "How many long-term friends do you
have?" Friendship longevity requires loyalty. Loyalty pulls us through the valleys in our relationships. Loyalty is more than agreement. Loyalty can also be the willingness to observe and wait and instruct.
This thought came to me while watching Johnny Cash sing one night. His signature song contains the line, "because you're mine, I walk the line." I really wonder if it shouldn't be, "Because I'm yours, I walk the line." We don't really think enough of what we owe to those people who love us. It is a big responsibility to be loved. Loyalty is far more than "not cheating" in sex. Loyalty is staying by and contributing to our mutual responsibility for each other.
Loyalty is proof of love. Christ said, "If you deny me before men I will deny you before the father in heaven, but if you confess me before men I will confess you before my father in heaven." He was saying that there is no love without loyalty.
In this fast-paced world of instant gratification and self-centered love it is good to stop and think about William Barclay's prayer for us…. That in our love, there would be loyalty. This is sacrificial love, this is love that holds ---- this is loyal love.
