Does loyalty mean anything these days? On Big Brother recently, that word “loyalty” was brought into focus for me. I bypass a lot of the drama on that show but love the game challenges. Derrick had won the right to be the head of household and was to put two people up for eviction. One of the guys, Caleb, reminded Derrick of how loyal he had been to him throughout the whole game. Of course, Derrick promised Caleb he would be safe and the other person he was up against would be evicted from the game. To Caleb’s surprise, Derrick did not keep his promise to him, as Derrick set him up for eviction from the game.

Julie, the host of the show, ask Caleb, “You talked about how important loyalty is to you. Do you feel betrayed?” Caleb replied, “Yeah, I feel more betrayed by Derrick than by anybody else.” Derrick, throughout the whole game, had promised him that they would be the final two.

Julie asked him, “What are you most proud of in this game?”Caleb said, “Basically, being myself and maintaining my morals and keeping my expectations high for myself. I remember a lot of those key words: honor, dignity, integrity, respect, and the biggest word of all, loyalty.” Caleb’s parents, when interviewed, described their son as a very loyal person. They felt that because loyalty meant so much to him, it would probably cost him the game, and it did.

Derrick is just an example of the self-consuming world we live in, where a person’s word means nothing anymore. With the attitude “to win at all cost,” loyalty is thrown out the window.

So what does loyalty mean to you? Is it a big deal? Loyalty means faithful, allegiance, devotion, and dedication; being constant, unwavering, steady, and unfailing to others. Loyalty is the ability to put others before you; to stick with them through thick and thin.

Of course, Judas is the example of someone who was looking out for himself. He turned Christ in for a few pieces of silver (Luke 22:47-48).

Ruth, on the other hand, was honored for her loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi. Ruth’s famous words are recorded in Ruth 1:16.

Christ was so loyal to God that even though, for a moment, He asked God to take this burden from Him, He said, “Not my Will, but Your Will be done.” And God was so loyal to us that He did not remove the burden of dying for us from His only son so we might live.

Loyalty counts a lot concerning who we are as people. Our character depends on whether we can be trusted to keep our word. Make loyalty, as Caleb did, an important part of your character. Study how you can become more loyal as a person, to the people around you, and most of all to God. After all, we are depending on God to be loyal to His promises to us. He has already proven that through the sacrifice of His Son. How comforting it is to know that God and His Son totally understand the meaning of the word loyalty to us.