Thou Shalt Be Faithful and Prompt

Proverbs 20:6 states, “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?“ My kids, my wife, the long drive, something came up, we got “sick,” etc….These are just a few of the scores of excuses that are used by those that are chronically late or absent. As I try to wrap my mind around young couples, I find that this lifestyle has become widely accepted by the 20 and 30 somethings with children 12 and under. It has become a given…people are known by it. If you say you will be there, you may not show up at all. But if we happen to see you, we can be guaranteed that you will be 15-20 minutes late.

As I get the opportunity to minister to this specific life stage, I have become more burdened about the lack of importance given to faithfulness and promptness. Here are several truths that the Holy Spirit has brought to my attention:

1. Being consistently late or absent is a character flaw. Yes, I went there….with my first point. The reason why people refuse to change is because they do not view their tardiness/absentness as a character flaw, they view it as a portion of their personality. Unfortunately, others view your tardiness and absentness (Yes, it’s a real word) as a character flaw even if you do not.

2. If you have given your WORD that you will be there, then absentness becomes a lie. Not doing what you said you would do….if you ask your 3 year old, they would tell you that would be called a LIE. Ask yourself this question, “When I tell someone I’ll be there (and when I’ll be there), do they even believe me?” Be really honest with yourself….do YOU even believe YOURSELF?

3. Being late or absent is selfishness. When you choose to miss a scheduled event, you have told the others involved that your time is more important than their time. You may not believe that, but that is what your actions tell others. When you are late to a meeting, you are saying that your 10-15 minutes were more important than the first 10-15 minutes of everyone else involved in the meeting.

4. Being late or absent sets an inconsistent example to your children and those that look to you. The very people that you many times blame for your being late or absent (your children) are the very people that look to you as an example. You are training them by your actions. You will have a teenager that does not do what he tells you (his parent) he is going to do. You will then (hopefully) discipline him. However, he learned that lifestyle from you.

5. Being late or absent can be solved with diligence, de-cluttering, and determination. In Part II of this series, we will go over the remedies for the chronically late or absent.

**DISCLAIMER** No one in particular was used as the basis for this article. LOL!
**DISCLAIMER PART II** Circumstances happen. Kids get sick, wardrobes malfunction, cars wreck, etc… This article was not for those that sporadically miss or are late.