“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” – Josh Billings quotes (American Humorist, 1818-1885)

But the fruit of the Spirit is … faithfulness (Galations 5:22)

How loyal am I when my friends let me down or are in a crisis?

As shared in yesterday’s devotional, our 13 year old golden retriever died on October 29. That was the saddest day of the year for me. The week before I received an email from Zenon Andrusyshyn with an outstanding message about dogs and extraordinary loyalty.

Zee holds the record for the longest punt in pro football history as well as one of the longest field goals ever. He was director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) in Tampa Florida for 22 years. I first met him in 2004 at the 50th Anniversary celebration of the FCA in Kansas City. Here is an excerpt from Zee’s message about “True Loyalty”:

Somewhere in a cemetery in the mid west, there is a rather unusual statue among the thousands of gravestones and hundreds of statues. It is not the statue of a man or woman or angel, not even of Jesus or Mary or a saint… but of a dog.

The story goes that one of the persons buried there had a dog which was very loyal to its master. When the master died, the dog followed the funeral procession to the grave and stayed there. It refused to go home until it died there. The family built a statue next to the master – in memory of that dog, that demonstrated such unusual and extraordinary loyalty.

What a heart warming story! No wonder when we humans think of the quality of faithfulness, we think of a dog. I think of my dog-Sasha, a 15 year old Dalmatian.  But, why not men or women? Is it because we humans have become too sophisticated to be so loyal to anyone? Only something as simple as a dog would be that loyal and faithful.

Here are some great definitions of true loyalty.

First: – Extraordinary loyalty is demonstrated when there is no allegiance owed.  Allegiance means duty, support, loyalty due to a ruler or government.

Second: – Extraordinary loyalty is demonstrated when there is no benefit promised. No promises or assurance of a reward at all.

Third: – Extraordinary loyalty is demonstrated when there are no conditions attached. We have been brought up to believe – that in life nothing is free. There is no free lunch. You must earn to deserve everything.

Repeat all three together. Why do I say it’s extraordinary? For the rest of Zee’s message, see today’s Link of the Day.

Prayer Power
Faithful and loving Father, thank You for loyal friends – people who will stick with us through thick and thin. Bless me to demonstrate extraordinary loyalty when there is no allegiance owed, no benefit promised, and no conditions attached. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

Link of the  Day
True Loyalty – complete message by Zee Andrusyshyn

Blessings to manifest extraordinary loyalty in your relationships!