Loyalty in Action
making the world a better place, one interaction at a time
Do you consider yourself to be loyal?
According to Google, to be loyal is to “give or show support to a person or institution.” Merriam-Webster says it “implies a firm resistance to any temptation to desert or betray.” Some common synonyms are constant, faithful, resolute, staunch, and steadfast. These are all good things. Loyalty is a good character quality, one that makes for a good spouse, a good parent, a good friend, and a good employee, to name just a few.
Loyalty also makes some lists of virtues but—as is true of many things that touch our humanity—even our loyalty can become disordered. When given out of habit or at the expense of people and the true, beautiful, and good, it can wreak all kinds of chaos within us and among us.
A Different Definition
Consider the Cambridge Dictionary's definition, which says one who is loyal is “always giving help and encouragement:” Help and encouragement. Most of us could use more of both. Offering real help to real people is loyalty in action. Speaking true words that build rather than destroy is loyalty in action. Could it be that simply walking through life with the people in our lives is loyalty in action?
To be one who is always giving help and encouragement means to be one who is making the world a better place, one interaction at a time. Let’s not just be loyal to a person or a cause or a group, let’s be people who are always giving help and encouragement—because the world needs a whole lot more of both.
Your Turn
Pause and reflect on loyalty in your life with these questions:
Is there disordered or misplaced loyalty in my life?
Do I need to upgrade my loyalty to my spouse, my family, or my faith?
Who in my life needs my help?
Who needs my encouragement?
take heart & happy trails ~ Natalie 🥾
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That's a great new definition I hadn't thought of before! Fits in really well with the rest of the themes we've been exploring!
I love your perspective, Natalie! "Making the world a better place one interaction at a time"! So good!