Real loyalty comes from the heart, gravitates to the soul, and proceeds to words and deeds. Pseudo-loyalty can be bought for a season, but if it must be purchased, the price will continually escalate as others seek it for themselves.
There are all kinds of loyalties generated by families, friends, teammates, soldiers, countries, and gods or traditions of men. What can be done to prove or sustain these loyalties stretches the imagination from the sublime to the absurd to the perverse.
Within the scope of true loyalty, assessments are made to determine the strength, durability, and deservedness of such loyalty. Real loyalty isn't blind to faults but, because of immeasurable worth, a loyal person decides to invest their support, sometimes their allegiance, often their trust, and a certain kind of devotion to the one who merits this loyalty.
There is also the child-like acceptance, that innate submission mostly prompted by a fluid and immature recognition of love. A child's loyalty is true and innocent, lofty in its purity.
Adults graduate to favorite brands of vehicles, restaurants, computers or smart phones, only breaking their allegiances when a perceived "better" one is produced or appears. A fickle pursuit of "the best" defeats most loyalties to objects.
But, we've all seen that variance in conduct with human beings. Marriages fail as "better" opportunities seduce individuals. Loyalties erode with greater temptations.
Loyalty is reduced to a current favorite item, philosophy, individual, or feeling. And it implodes under scrutiny becoming no more than what holds an individual's attention for any given time.
Real loyalty is not a frivolous action, a mere attachment. Real loyalty persists through tough engagments because the investment isn't an idle directive. Time and examination have taken place, the resulting commitment a heart's treasure. Important. Vital. Meaningful. Trustworthy. Valuable.
Besides our Almighty God, where do you place your loyalties?
Father, please help me to be a loyal friend, devoted to those you've put in my life to remain loyal to. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.