Loyalty that runs deep in our soul, so that we are not just a friend to others but rather a treasured friend indeed, will be tried in the fires of disloyalty.
Disloyalty is suffered most often and most heartbreakingly by loyalists. Deep anguish is the sometimes lot of the loyal friend. To be sure, the path of a loyal friend is, at times, paved with wounds of the heart and disappointment; may God grant that we will bear whatever pain betrayals bring rather than abandon loyalty.
Only by loyalists willingness to bear the pain of disloyalty without succumbing to the same can there be grand role models for the rest to follow. Oh how we long for loyalty in this day of disloyalty; we need loyalists all the more. Without loyalty there would be no missionaries, no founding of America, no children who grow up secure, no enduring friendships, and no Bible.
“At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them” (2 Timothy 4:16).
