By: Justin Dillenschneider, Director of Student Life
Week of October 18th, 2021
Dependability can be defined as being capable of being relied on for consistency in character or being trustworthy to accomplish a task. This virtue requires constant cultivation and awareness of the tendencies we have towards stubbornness and unreliability. In modern Western society, the individual reigns supreme and every aspect of culture revolves around self-actualization, individual rights, and following our own heart. This often results in stubbornness, lack of self-awareness, and an inward focus that emphasizes doing what is best for ourselves. God’s people throughout the Old and New Testaments fail by stubbornly choosing to follow their own desires; yet God consistently raises up messengers (prophets, priests, kings, and apostles) who call the people to repent and to depend on God and His wisdom. As Christians, our faith is wholly dependent on the completed and perfect work of Christ. To be dependable, we must constantly meditate on the dependability of God and strive alongside other believers who can hold us accountable.
Continue contemplating dependability by looking at this week’s scripture reading from
Philippians 1:27-30 ESV:
“27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.”
We want to encourage you to have a conversation this week about the virtue of dependability. Consider these discussion prompts together:
- What tempts you to resort to stubbornness? Where do you see stubbornness taking hold in your life?
- Where have you seen people fall into unreliability? Where are you tempted to do so?
- What are some ways you see Christ correcting unreliability or stubbornness in Scripture? What are some ways you see him responding to dependability?
- How do we see the apostles and the early church modeling dependability?
Hymn to Sing Together: A Mighty Fortress is Our God