Loyalty | The Crowning Jewel Of Love
When I heard this expression, it opened a desire to understand what it means to be Loyal. And, by extension, to understand what it means to Love through loyalty.
To Be Loyal
-giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution.
To be loyal is to be a constant opportunity for someone to feel loved. Although loyalty can be misused, the purist expression of love takes place when dedication is applied correctly.
The value of loyalty shows when love is chosen and expressed consistently, without guile, giving it freely because of the need to exemplify and spread goodness to those in need.
Understanding Loyalty Through Love
Love is a feeling; however, it is also a word of action. If we look at the five love languages: words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch, we see that each expression of love requires free will and a degree of commitment to the one being loved.
Here is a Spiritual perspective!
“45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail —
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.”
As it shows here, loving someone is hard work. People are imperfect. We can be needy, careless, and unkind. It’s easy to be loyal when people are easy to love. Nevertheless, loyalty is not loyalty without consistency, and life is never easy.
The brutal reality is that being Loyal can be challenging when life isn’t easy. After all, humans have survival instincts, and those natural survival instincts can make us naturally selfish.
Loyalty is an expression of love over time. Loyalty is an attribute that requires commitment to others, no matter the changing variables.
As you can see, the scripture uses both indications of time and commitment when describing pure love, such as “suffereth long” and “all things.”
Maintaining a Loyal Mind and Heart
From my experience, nobody likes to be around toxic people. Sometimes, people who were once easy to be loyal to change.
As a result, it becomes harder to show loyalty because now, what we view as good for us is no longer worth the stress of allegiance. In this case, allegiance is in the form of friendships.
But make no mistake, loyalty is a characteristic of which others are the primary beneficiaries. Everyone deserves the opportunity to feel true love.
The question is, how does one stay loyal through hardship and maintain the value of your own mental and emotional health?
First, loyalty is about being committed to be available to people and willing to help in their time of need out of love. It does not mean spending time with them 24/7.
Second, you can only help others effectively if you have a healthy emotional and mental state to support. Lifting people to higher ground is difficult when your feet under you occupy lower ground.
To help others, you need to help yourself.
Third, loyalty does not necessarily equal people who do what I say when I ask them, nor does it mean people who are there so I can have an easy life.
Does a parent become disloyal when they send their children to their room out of punishment for unkindness? No!
Why do they do that?
The kid may not like it, but they do it to help them learn lessons of value that will increase their good character so that the child has a better life.
Likewise, people may do things they may not like, or you may do something they don’t like.
In the end, loyalty can still be maintained while taking time to make sure you are okay and in a healthy environment. That includes saying no, resting more, and giving yourself more time.
As long as you don’t violate trust, loyalty can be expressed, consecrated, and maintained in various ways.
Always Remember
“Without loyalty, there can be no love. Without loyalty, there can be no family. Without loyalty, there can be no friendship. Without loyalty, there can be no commitment to community or country.” —
