Hebrews 10:19-25 (NKJV)
“Semper Fidelis” is the marines motto adopted in 1883 under the inspiration of Colonel Charles McCawley. It is Latin for “Always faithful” or “always loyal.”
The marines values are: Honor, courage and commitment, the core values of the Marines, define how every Marine in the Corps thinks, acts and fights. Throughout the evolving battlefields of the 21st Century, every Marine in the Corps must be confident in the abilities of themselves—and each other. In the chaos of battle, character matters.
When you look at the motto and values of the marines, it lines up closely with the what should be the motto and values of the Christian. In Hebrews 10, the apostle Paul gives us a few verses that remind us about always being faithful and showing honor, courage and commitment as Christians . Areas of our life that will be challenged as we fight the good fight in the world we are living in, while remembering that character matters.
Let’s look at what we should always be faithful at as Christians.
- Honor Christ for His sacrifice and gift of salvation. (V.19-22)
Christ willingly gave His life so that we might be cleansed of our sins and have access to God the Father in prayer. The way that we live our lives before others shows how much that Christ matters to us and whether we truly desire to honor Him. We should consider it an honor to be a Christian and to represent Christ. - Courage to stand for what we believe. (V.23)
There are always going to be temptations in this life that we are living that will try to lure us away from living out God’s word in our individual lives. Living the Christian life takes courage to say no and to stand up for others being treated right. Christianity is not for cowards, it’s for those that are willing to be brave and make a difference. - Commitment to the Church and the body of Christ. (V. 24-25)
In these last two verses, we see how important it is to be not only committed to Christ, but to His church and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We are living in a time when church attendance in more come and go even among the leaders of Church. It’s these times that the Bible tell us are signs of the times before Christ returns. Now is when we must be encouraging each other with love, service and faithful attendance. Just like the values of the marines, we have to believe in and be there for each other.
If you were tested on the motto and values of the marines in your Christian walk, would you be found Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful)?
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