I was recently taken aback one Sunday after church when a man in his early thirties said to me, “I’m so proud of you.”

“You are?”

I couldn’t fathom why he’d be proud of me. He was about the age of my own children. Shouldn’t I be saying that to him? I hadn’t seen him for well over a year, and only a handful of times in the last ten years.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I’m so proud of you and this church. You’re always here. It doesn’t matter what happens or how many people come and go, you’re still here.”

We laughed. But it made me think.

How often do we just keep showing up, doing our thing, thinking nobody notices? How many times have I wondered if what I do matters to anyone but me? So often it seems the results are lackluster.

That’s where the fine art of faithfulness shines brightest. When nothing noteworthy seems to be happening, when the status quo lasts much longer than expected, when you keep putting one foot in front of the other, when you keep believing that showing up to do what you do matters–that’s faithfulness. It isn’t shiny or sparkly. It’s ordinary and mundane.

And beautiful.

Everyone is faithful to something or someone. Most of us are faithful to a number of things, like our faith, marriage, or family. Whatever we devote ourselves to shows the deepest part of our hearts. It’s the seat of our passion, our greatest love. It’s the motivation to our faithfulness. We act out of that deep love by showing up time and time again.

Faithfulness is powerful. It cements marriages, garners respect, lays life foundations, sets an example. Surprisingly, it isn’t invisible. People see it and honor those who possess it. So never wonder if your faithfulness matters.

It does. And it’s life changing.