Faithfulness
Studying Japanese management, I learned that they had the concept of lifetime employment. As the term implies, the idea is once an employee is hired, that employee will be employed by that company for his whole life. For me, that’s such a simple but grand idea.
If an employee is assured lifetime employment, therefore removing the threat of ever getting fired and becoming jobless, that employee does not have the need anymore to search for other employment, nor even entertain the possibility of entertaining other employment, and therefore not waste time in being open, looking out for nor seeking other possibilities. Thus, that employee becomes dedicated to the work he is doing and to the company which employs him, since that will be with him for life. That employee does everything he possibly can to improve his craft, knowing that the business is essentially his business, since he will be working there forever, and the rise and fall of that company will be his rise and fall as well. To simplify, you could even say his increase in salary will now be dependent on the performance of that company, so a rise in that company increases his salary, while the opposite will not.
Also, should management come up to him to speak about his weaknesses and problem areas and discuss solutions and suggestions with him on how to improve himself, he will not view this as a threat since he knows that he will never get fired and therefore knows that this concern is genuine, for him to improve himself and ultimately improve the company, to benefit the company and then ultimately the employees too.
This strategy was used with top level management to lower level workforce.
I am well aware that such a strategy may be prone to abuse, which is why I am dubious whether many Japanese companies still apply this today. But for an employee, the idea of knowing that a company will stick with you through your smooth and rough spots, and may even help you and train you to smooth out your rough edges, and even fulfill your full potential, and help you develop what will become your expertise, is certainly encouraging, and such faithfulness of the company may also be rewarded with faithfulness and dedication of its employees, thus the company is assured of stable workforce, mastering their craft, and giving their expertise to their faithful company, with little fear that these employees themselves will leave at once given difficult times, or seek other employment once they have gotten what they needed from their current employment, after the company has invested so much in that employee.
This also works well with human relationships, particularly I would be focusing on the romantic kind, although it works even with most other kinds.
My favorite movie is Forrest Gump, mostly because I can identify with the main character, an idiot who was able to achieve amazing things. Though simple-minded, he was not of lack of character. What I admired most about Forrest is his faithfulness to his girl, who in truth wasn’t even really his girl during the greater part of the movie. No matter what the girl did, Forrest would still refer to her as “his girl”. No matter what she did, she knew she could always depend on Forrest. In the end, the girl would appreciate Forrest and his faithfulness, eventually marrying him and bearing him a son.
Some people would call Forrest’s faithfulness pure stupidity, after everything the girl did, he would always be there for her. But one must remember, in the end, he got what he wanted, which is be with the girl, and having her was more important to him than anything she did.
In a future-marriage relationship, if one is undecided or unsure about the relationship he or she is in, that person becomes open to other people, that is, open to pursue future-marriage relationships with another person. Because that person is not totally sold on his or her current relationship, when that person’s partner does something, the offended can turn his or her back on their partner, since he or she was open to other relationships anyway, whether consciously or not.
This is not so for a person who is totally sold on the person he or she is in a relationship with. Whatever their partner does, the offended does not part with their partner, since the offended knows that there is absolutely no one else for him or her. That is faithfulness.
An interesting point I would like to make here is if you are totally sold on that person, and you are totally faithful to that person, even if that person is unfaithful to you, sooner or later, when things go bad for that other person, and that person finds no one else to turn to, that person will turn to you. Although that situation is rather ideal and it would be ignorant to say that that will always happen, what I can say is that I have seen it happen, quite a number of times. It is a person’s faithfulness and dependability, the thought that that person will always be there, always, no matter what, that makes that person endearing and trusted by the other person. That is the effect of faithfulness.
I wanted to name this article: the effect of faithfulness, because that is what I emphasize, not necessarily just define faithfulness, but alas, the effect of faithfulness is not constant with the examples I have mentioned.
A company’s faithfulness to keep an employee for life through thick and thin, thus producing faithfulness of the employee to the company, or the employee’s faithfulness to the company to benefit the company, producing the company’s faithfulness in that employee, though realistic, is not always the case. Employees abuse, and so do employers.
In a relationship, one’s faithfulness can produce positive effects from that person’s partner, but that is not always the case. Some still keep there doors open to other people, seeing people behind that person’s back and maintaining relationships of various degrees, as back up or as something on the side, no matter how faithful the other person is.
God’s remedy to remove some uncertainty in a couple’s relationship is marriage; once a couple is married, that is for life, till death do you part, so therefore in a married person’s heart, there must not even be the possibility to entertain other possibilities; all doors must be closed. There is no option to have someone else; there must be only one; that one must always be there for you, as you are to that person. There is no option ever to replace the one you married, not even a hint of that possibility should be there. Although one may argue that divorce is permitted in the Bible, one must remember that the Bible’s definition of divorce is the physical separation of a husband and wife, and it was clearly written in the Bible that at no point can a divorced person remarry while their marriage partner is still alive (read Mark 10:2-12, 1 Corinthians 7:10-16, 1 Corinthians 7:39). But man taints and works around God’s laws, thus destroying himself. When man allows remarriage after divorce even when their marriage partner is still alive, it destroys God’s purpose in marriage, not just the sanctity, but the trust, reliability and expected faithfulness of your marriage partner. How can you ever know that the one you marry will be forever, given that that person has the option to divorce you and marry someone else. You will not know, until the end. Thus it produces some level of distrust, giving the married person the “need” to be open to other possibilities, given that the other person has the earthly legal option to replace you anytime. Remember, God’s purpose for divorce, defined by the Bible as physical separation, is only intended for couples where one has not been saved (implying that neither was saved when they were married), and is intended to keep peace between the two or for the well-being of the one who may be suffering, rather than force them to stay physically together, but arguing and not being at peace all the time (1 Corinthians 7:15). It was never intended to open the possibility of choosing someone else if you find your current marriage partner no longer suitable for you.
Which is why the decision who to marry is critical to a person’s life, because what God has put together, that is forever. And you must be faithful to that person, no matter what that person does, because there is no other option. God never gave the provision for a married person to choose someone else while their marriage partner is still alive; you have to be faithful to the one you chose to marry no matter what that other person does, no matter how unfaithful that other person is. No matter what. I cannot emphasize that enough. Once you made that choice to marry, it is irreversible. You can only hope that your faithfulness will also produce faithfulness to you in your marriage partner.
Which is why I have developed what I believed is one of, if not the hardest question you must answer before you marry the person you are to marry: “If that person is unfaithful to you in any way, even involving sex with another person, can you still accept that person as your marriage partner and remain faithful and one hundred percent devoted and loving to that person?” If your answer is no, or are unsure of your reply, you may need to reconsider your decision, or most likely, you may need to mature even more before you make that important decision.
I must say again that God allows divorce as defined in the Bible as physical separation between a married couple, specifically mentioned was that due to unfaithfulness, (Matthew 5:32) but remember that this is not necessarily God’s perfect will for your life, to be separated from the one you married, and this is more of a “concession” (please don’t misinterpret that term) rather than God’s ultimate purpose (Mark 10:2-9). Remember, God’s purpose for producing marriage was because God saw that “it was not good for the man to be alone.” (Genesis 2:18) Thus, if unfaithfulness ever occurs, forgiveness and acceptance is still the better alternative, especially when the one you are married to is truly repentant. Because only death can truly part you with the one you married.
It is a sad but valid conclusion that faithfulness does not always produce more faithfulness. This is true because what we deal with are people, who most likely will let us down. But there is one who will always remain faithful, even when we are unfaithful. And that is, of course, God.
How many times have we been unfaithful to Him? Speaking for myself, more times than I can count. I have been unfaithful and unfaithful and unfaithful, turning my back on Him and replacing Him with something much cheaper. But when I realize that I am just settling for less (you may refer to my other article, Settling for Less), I go back to Him, and He always accepts me with open arms. Even “…if we are faithless, he will remain faithful…” (2 Timothy 2:13). And it is this faithfulness of His that endears Him to me even more. I see His genuine love; His unconditional love. And it is His faithfulness that draws me back to Him every time. I go back to Him every time because I know He is faithful; because I can depend on His faithfulness. For if He was not faithful, I would not be able to come back to Him, and we would be separate forever, for I can do nothing of myself to ever reach Him. Which is true of any of us. But we are fortunate that God loves us so much, “that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). He did not sit idly by, waiting for us to do something. No, He reached out to us Himself, even though we are utterly unfaithful; He remained faithful. He allowed Himself to suffer, to sacrifice, for His beloved’s sake. That’s us. You. Me. And when we realize the errors of our ways, we come back to Him, and He remains faithful to take us back and remain absolutely, one hundred percent devoted and loving to us. And this is truly the faithfulness He would like us to show to the one we married (Ephesians 5:25). Faithful, no matter what. Now that’s faithfulness. That’s true love. Faithfulness that draws one back. Faithfulness that can produce love. True love that can produce love.
- A. L. E. -
(Originally written: 2005, November 19, 10:53 am)
If an employee is assured lifetime employment, therefore removing the threat of ever getting fired and becoming jobless, that employee does not have the need anymore to search for other employment, nor even entertain the possibility of entertaining other employment, and therefore not waste time in being open, looking out for nor seeking other possibilities. Thus, that employee becomes dedicated to the work he is doing and to the company which employs him, since that will be with him for life. That employee does everything he possibly can to improve his craft, knowing that the business is essentially his business, since he will be working there forever, and the rise and fall of that company will be his rise and fall as well. To simplify, you could even say his increase in salary will now be dependent on the performance of that company, so a rise in that company increases his salary, while the opposite will not.
Also, should management come up to him to speak about his weaknesses and problem areas and discuss solutions and suggestions with him on how to improve himself, he will not view this as a threat since he knows that he will never get fired and therefore knows that this concern is genuine, for him to improve himself and ultimately improve the company, to benefit the company and then ultimately the employees too.
This strategy was used with top level management to lower level workforce.
I am well aware that such a strategy may be prone to abuse, which is why I am dubious whether many Japanese companies still apply this today. But for an employee, the idea of knowing that a company will stick with you through your smooth and rough spots, and may even help you and train you to smooth out your rough edges, and even fulfill your full potential, and help you develop what will become your expertise, is certainly encouraging, and such faithfulness of the company may also be rewarded with faithfulness and dedication of its employees, thus the company is assured of stable workforce, mastering their craft, and giving their expertise to their faithful company, with little fear that these employees themselves will leave at once given difficult times, or seek other employment once they have gotten what they needed from their current employment, after the company has invested so much in that employee.
This also works well with human relationships, particularly I would be focusing on the romantic kind, although it works even with most other kinds.
My favorite movie is Forrest Gump, mostly because I can identify with the main character, an idiot who was able to achieve amazing things. Though simple-minded, he was not of lack of character. What I admired most about Forrest is his faithfulness to his girl, who in truth wasn’t even really his girl during the greater part of the movie. No matter what the girl did, Forrest would still refer to her as “his girl”. No matter what she did, she knew she could always depend on Forrest. In the end, the girl would appreciate Forrest and his faithfulness, eventually marrying him and bearing him a son.
Some people would call Forrest’s faithfulness pure stupidity, after everything the girl did, he would always be there for her. But one must remember, in the end, he got what he wanted, which is be with the girl, and having her was more important to him than anything she did.
In a future-marriage relationship, if one is undecided or unsure about the relationship he or she is in, that person becomes open to other people, that is, open to pursue future-marriage relationships with another person. Because that person is not totally sold on his or her current relationship, when that person’s partner does something, the offended can turn his or her back on their partner, since he or she was open to other relationships anyway, whether consciously or not.
This is not so for a person who is totally sold on the person he or she is in a relationship with. Whatever their partner does, the offended does not part with their partner, since the offended knows that there is absolutely no one else for him or her. That is faithfulness.
An interesting point I would like to make here is if you are totally sold on that person, and you are totally faithful to that person, even if that person is unfaithful to you, sooner or later, when things go bad for that other person, and that person finds no one else to turn to, that person will turn to you. Although that situation is rather ideal and it would be ignorant to say that that will always happen, what I can say is that I have seen it happen, quite a number of times. It is a person’s faithfulness and dependability, the thought that that person will always be there, always, no matter what, that makes that person endearing and trusted by the other person. That is the effect of faithfulness.
I wanted to name this article: the effect of faithfulness, because that is what I emphasize, not necessarily just define faithfulness, but alas, the effect of faithfulness is not constant with the examples I have mentioned.
A company’s faithfulness to keep an employee for life through thick and thin, thus producing faithfulness of the employee to the company, or the employee’s faithfulness to the company to benefit the company, producing the company’s faithfulness in that employee, though realistic, is not always the case. Employees abuse, and so do employers.
In a relationship, one’s faithfulness can produce positive effects from that person’s partner, but that is not always the case. Some still keep there doors open to other people, seeing people behind that person’s back and maintaining relationships of various degrees, as back up or as something on the side, no matter how faithful the other person is.
God’s remedy to remove some uncertainty in a couple’s relationship is marriage; once a couple is married, that is for life, till death do you part, so therefore in a married person’s heart, there must not even be the possibility to entertain other possibilities; all doors must be closed. There is no option to have someone else; there must be only one; that one must always be there for you, as you are to that person. There is no option ever to replace the one you married, not even a hint of that possibility should be there. Although one may argue that divorce is permitted in the Bible, one must remember that the Bible’s definition of divorce is the physical separation of a husband and wife, and it was clearly written in the Bible that at no point can a divorced person remarry while their marriage partner is still alive (read Mark 10:2-12, 1 Corinthians 7:10-16, 1 Corinthians 7:39). But man taints and works around God’s laws, thus destroying himself. When man allows remarriage after divorce even when their marriage partner is still alive, it destroys God’s purpose in marriage, not just the sanctity, but the trust, reliability and expected faithfulness of your marriage partner. How can you ever know that the one you marry will be forever, given that that person has the option to divorce you and marry someone else. You will not know, until the end. Thus it produces some level of distrust, giving the married person the “need” to be open to other possibilities, given that the other person has the earthly legal option to replace you anytime. Remember, God’s purpose for divorce, defined by the Bible as physical separation, is only intended for couples where one has not been saved (implying that neither was saved when they were married), and is intended to keep peace between the two or for the well-being of the one who may be suffering, rather than force them to stay physically together, but arguing and not being at peace all the time (1 Corinthians 7:15). It was never intended to open the possibility of choosing someone else if you find your current marriage partner no longer suitable for you.
Which is why the decision who to marry is critical to a person’s life, because what God has put together, that is forever. And you must be faithful to that person, no matter what that person does, because there is no other option. God never gave the provision for a married person to choose someone else while their marriage partner is still alive; you have to be faithful to the one you chose to marry no matter what that other person does, no matter how unfaithful that other person is. No matter what. I cannot emphasize that enough. Once you made that choice to marry, it is irreversible. You can only hope that your faithfulness will also produce faithfulness to you in your marriage partner.
Which is why I have developed what I believed is one of, if not the hardest question you must answer before you marry the person you are to marry: “If that person is unfaithful to you in any way, even involving sex with another person, can you still accept that person as your marriage partner and remain faithful and one hundred percent devoted and loving to that person?” If your answer is no, or are unsure of your reply, you may need to reconsider your decision, or most likely, you may need to mature even more before you make that important decision.
I must say again that God allows divorce as defined in the Bible as physical separation between a married couple, specifically mentioned was that due to unfaithfulness, (Matthew 5:32) but remember that this is not necessarily God’s perfect will for your life, to be separated from the one you married, and this is more of a “concession” (please don’t misinterpret that term) rather than God’s ultimate purpose (Mark 10:2-9). Remember, God’s purpose for producing marriage was because God saw that “it was not good for the man to be alone.” (Genesis 2:18) Thus, if unfaithfulness ever occurs, forgiveness and acceptance is still the better alternative, especially when the one you are married to is truly repentant. Because only death can truly part you with the one you married.
It is a sad but valid conclusion that faithfulness does not always produce more faithfulness. This is true because what we deal with are people, who most likely will let us down. But there is one who will always remain faithful, even when we are unfaithful. And that is, of course, God.
How many times have we been unfaithful to Him? Speaking for myself, more times than I can count. I have been unfaithful and unfaithful and unfaithful, turning my back on Him and replacing Him with something much cheaper. But when I realize that I am just settling for less (you may refer to my other article, Settling for Less), I go back to Him, and He always accepts me with open arms. Even “…if we are faithless, he will remain faithful…” (2 Timothy 2:13). And it is this faithfulness of His that endears Him to me even more. I see His genuine love; His unconditional love. And it is His faithfulness that draws me back to Him every time. I go back to Him every time because I know He is faithful; because I can depend on His faithfulness. For if He was not faithful, I would not be able to come back to Him, and we would be separate forever, for I can do nothing of myself to ever reach Him. Which is true of any of us. But we are fortunate that God loves us so much, “that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). He did not sit idly by, waiting for us to do something. No, He reached out to us Himself, even though we are utterly unfaithful; He remained faithful. He allowed Himself to suffer, to sacrifice, for His beloved’s sake. That’s us. You. Me. And when we realize the errors of our ways, we come back to Him, and He remains faithful to take us back and remain absolutely, one hundred percent devoted and loving to us. And this is truly the faithfulness He would like us to show to the one we married (Ephesians 5:25). Faithful, no matter what. Now that’s faithfulness. That’s true love. Faithfulness that draws one back. Faithfulness that can produce love. True love that can produce love.
- A. L. E. -
(Originally written: 2005, November 19, 10:53 am)
