Steadfast Faith

Episode 5: Steadfast Faith, Love in Action

What does it mean to stand firm when everything around you pushes back? In this episode of Combat Pastor, Tyler shares the story of a fellow Marine named Eitan, a man mocked for his faith, yet unshaken. Years later, that same man would show a powerful love that broke through Tyler’s pride and taught him a lesson about steadfast faith and love.

We’ll dive into what the Bible calls steadfast faith, why mockery often follows conviction, and how real love isn’t just something we say, it’s something we do. If you've ever felt like you’re not good enough for God, this one’s for you.

Listen in for encouragement, truth, and the reminder:
 You’re not too far gone. You’re just one step away from coming home.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Combat Pastor
• 5:11 Jesus Rejected in His Hometown
• 8:42 Meeting Aiden in the Marines
• 10:28 The Strength in Standing Firm
• 13:33 Living with Steadfast Faith

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Welcome back. I'm Tyler Fulton. This is Combat Pastor, marine and Ministry, and I've been blown up, broken down and built back by the grace of God. Now I serve as a husband, a father and a shepherd. I share stories of faith and family, marriage and mission, and I just want you to know that you're not in this alone. We're fighting together. So let's move out.

Speaker 1: 0:27

Today we're diving in to what it looks like to live out faith when it's not easy, when it's tested by mockery, hardship or the people who knew the old you. This is about emotional hype or surface-level belief. And let's be honest, this isn't about emotional hype or surface-level belief. And let's be honest, sometimes the hardest people to live out your faith in front of are the ones who knew you before Christ. And even Jesus experienced this. He walked into his own hometown synagogue, read a prophecy about the coming Messiah and declared that's me.

Speaker 1: 1:03

At first they were amazed when he's just a very knowledgeable guy in the synagogue, he's reading to them, teaching them, they're all about that. But the moment he claimed truth, they turned on him. They said you, you're just the carpenter's son, just that candle snuffing word. Their pride couldn't accept that the savior came from among them and Jesus knew it would happen. He wasn't caught off guard or anything. Mark 6 says they were offended and Jesus said it plain A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown. Prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown. They even tried to kill him, but that rejection fulfilled what was written. He was despised and rejected. So even Jesus faced rejection from those closest to him.

Speaker 1: 1:56

So don't be surprised when you do too. It doesn't mean you're off course and it might mean you're right where God wants you to be. Does that sound familiar to anyone else? Am I alone on this? Like I lived this out. I experienced this with my own friends and my own family. Maybe you've heard something like wait, you're a Christian now. I've heard the way you talk. I know you man. It's just a phase. Let me know when it's over. Man, I've been there and yeah, it stings. But here's the amazing part Even people's rejection can strengthen our faith. Because when Jesus wasn't accepted in his own town, it wasn't just rejection, it was prophecy fulfilled. Isaiah 53.3 said Jesus knew what it meant to be mocked and misunderstood, and still he stood firm.

Speaker 1: 3:12

This isn't about hype. It's not about feel-good spirituality. This is about faith that doesn't flinch under pressure, a faith that stays grounded even when everything else is shaking. That's hard to do, especially because pressure comes in ways we wouldn't really expect. Often it catches us off guard. You ever met someone who doesn't just talk about what they believe. They actually live it out. That was Aiden. I met him in the Marine Corps.

Speaker 1: 3:43

While most of us were hardened and tough, absurdly sarcastic, aiden stood out, not because he was loud but because he didn't change under pressure. That's rare. I've always been someone who could fit into any crowd. I bounced around, adapted. I was in chameleon mode most of my life, just trying to blend in. But Aiden didn't do that.

Speaker 1: 4:10

While we were out cussing and cracking dark jokes, he kind of kept to himself. He didn't fully pull away. He wasn't like a weirdo or anything. He'd just sit off to the side while the rest of us were doing our partying thing or talking trash. He wasn't like socially awkward, he was actually a total bro, just a regular dude. But it was the crowd we were that made him seem weird and, to be honest, we mocked him. I mocked him openly at the time.

Speaker 1: 4:45

I thought he was weak, like he couldn't hang in the harsh environment of the Marine Corps. But scripture flips that whole idea upside down. In 2 Corinthians 12, 9-10, paul says therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ's power may rest on me, for when I am weak, then I am strong. That's what Aiton was living out. He looked weak to us but he was actually standing in. The strength that didn't come from him. He knew where his power came from. He was actually on track and we were lost, and nobody likes being lost alone. So he tried to drag others with us just to feel less alone in our mess.

Speaker 1: 5:30

But Aiton never fought back, never got defensive. He just stood Quiet, unmoving, unshaken. It wasn't weakness, it was the strongest thing I'd ever seen, really. I just didn't know it yet and I hated it at the time because I didn't understand it. There's something in us that wants to tear down because I didn't understand it. There's something in us that wants to tear down what we don't understand. We attack what makes us uncomfortable. It's easier to mock than to wrestle with conviction, and when the crowd is moving one way, it takes real strength to stand still. Mocking Aiton wasn't really about him. It was about avoiding the truth he represented. He reminded us that compromise isn't strength, and conviction isn't arrogance, it's obedience.

Speaker 1: 6:21

Looking back now, I realize Aidan wasn't standing on his own strength. He was standing on Christ's. He knew Christ, he had a great relationship with the Lord and he was able to be uplifted by him and, no matter what was going on around him, he stood firm. So what was it that made Aidan stand out? Well, he was different. He had convictions. What was giving him that kind of quiet, unshakable strength?

Speaker 1: 6:49

The Bible calls it steadfast faith. So the word steadfast shows up a lot in scripture. It means something firmly fixed, immovable. In Greek it's often translated for words like to stand firm, to endure, secure. So when Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 16, secure.

Speaker 1: 7:08

So when Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 16, 13, be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. He's not talking about being passive. He's calling for combat readiness. So be on your guard. That means you're on sentry duty. You don't guard something unless there's a threat. Then stand firm in the faith, not in your opinion, not in your emotions, but in the unchanging truth of the gospel. Now you have a standard. Then be courageous. Well, this implies that there's going to be some sort of risk involved, because it takes courage, because you will be challenged and be strong. And the literal translation for will be challenged and be strong. And the literal translation for this is more like be strengthened. The power doesn't come from you.

Speaker 1: 7:58

When we look at the context, paul is writing to a church in Corinth that was a mess, compromise, pride, sexual sin and people holding all kinds of different beliefs, ideas. They didn't know what was true. Does that sound familiar? And right in the middle of that chaos, paul ends with this stand firm, don't drift, don't water it down. And Aidan didn't, and that's why he made us so uncomfortable, because he lived what we weren't willing to.

Speaker 1: 8:31

Hebrews 10 23 says let us hold tightly, without wavering, to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. So, now that we know the kind of faith we're called to, the verse is saying don't let go, stay locked in, hold the line, because the one who gave you that hope, he's trustworthy. And let's be honest, how many times do we feel like we have to be in total control but secretly wish we could hand that off to someone else? Truth is, we weren't made to carry everything. That's not how God wired us. Our nature leans towards submission, but our culture pushes defiance, always rebelling, always chasing self. That's the current we're pushing against. That's the battle. That's why we need to stand firm.

Speaker 1: 9:17

Back to Aiden. Years later, years after I left the Marines, I was totally different. I recently got married, recently became a dad and recently gave my life to Christ. Then, one day, my son, who was only three, was in the hospital with serious breathing issues. We'd been there for days. We were tired, scared, overwhelmed and out of nowhere.

Speaker 1: 9:42

I get a message on Facebook. It's from Aiden. He tells me he'd been watching how things were unfolding in my life. He noticed how my posts had shifted from ridiculous to Christ-centered. He put together some of the tidbits of my life that he saw through posts. He said he was encouraged by the way the Lord had changed me. And then he drops this. He says I've been praying for you for years. Let that sink in Years.

Speaker 1: 10:09

Not only did he not retaliate when I made fun of him, but he quietly prayed for me. The guy who mocked him, the one who tried to make his life miserable Because he didn't understand him. And then he sends me a generous gift no strings, just love. It shattered my pride. It was love that took action. 1 John 3.18 says Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions. And in truth. Love isn't just a feeling, it's truth that moves and Jesus modeled it. He touched lepers, he wept at graves, he washed feet and he went to the cross. Love in action is gospel love and that's what Aiton showed me. He reflected the love of Christ who loved his enemies and I had been one. And the thing is the kind of love Aiton showed. It costs you. It costs you pride, time, comfort, but that's what Christlike love looks like.

Speaker 1: 11:10

Romans 5.8 says but God demonstrates his own love for us in this. This part gets me. It says while we were still sinners, christ died for us. Let's break that down. Some of you listening may feel like you're not good enough to come to God, like once you clean up your life, maybe then he'll accept you. But that's not the gospel. God didn't wait for us to get it right. He didn't wait for us to fix ourselves. While we were still in rebellion, still broken, still doing our own thing, jesus died for us. It's not about climbing your way to God, it's about him coming down into your mess and pulling you out. You don't earn salvation. You don't work your way into grace. It's already been paid for.

Speaker 1: 11:59

If you feel too far gone, too dirty, too ashamed, this verse is for you. Jesus didn't die for perfect people. He died for the guilty, for the stubborn, for the lost. He died for people like me and people like you. If you've been thinking I'll come to God once I clean up, let me say this You're not too far gone. You're just one step away from coming home with Jesus.

Speaker 1: 12:25

Aidan gave me a glimpse of that kind of love, and that love is just one step, one pebble that the Holy Spirit used to lead me to the cross. So think about this who in your life needs you to stand firm when it's easier to cave? Who's mocked your faith and, instead of bitterness, needs your prayer? Are you just talking love or do you live it out? You never know who's watching your faith.

Speaker 1: 12:52

Sometimes the seeds you plant in silence bloom years later in someone else's broken season. Sometimes the pebble you put in someone's shoe becomes too hard to ignore that little comment you made, that quiet act of obedience. God can use it all. Maybe you feel like what you're doing doesn't matter, like no one's listening, like nothing's changing. But Aiton's story reminds us, god works in the unseen. Quiet obedience today can lead to breakthrough tomorrow.

Speaker 1: 13:22

Don't underestimate what God can do with your faithfulness. You don't have to be loud, god can do with your faithfulness. You don't have to be loud, impressive or perfect. Just stand firm. Love well, let your life match your words. And if you're the one who feels too far gone, like you've been mocked, resisted or drifted for too long, listen. If God can reach me, he can reach you. If he can use Aiton's love to shake me up, he can use someone in your life too. You don't have to clean yourself up before coming to God. You just have to show up, and when you do, you'll find he's been waiting patiently, lovingly, with open arms. If this episode encouraged you, share it with someone who needs a reminder that God's not done with them or with you. This is Combat, pastor. Stay in the fight, keep the faith, hold fast and remember you're not walking alone. I'll see you next time.