Faithful/Loyal

Faithful/Loyal

Do you consider yourself a faithful person? Do you consider yourself a loyal person? When I go to the dictionary I find it hard to distinguish the two.  In the dictionary, faithful points to loyalty and loyal points to faithful.

Below are the definitions of both - you decide.

faith·ful

[ feyth-f uhl]

ADJECTIVE

1.

strict or thorough in the performance of duty: a faithful worker.

2.

true to one's word, promises, vows, etc.

3.

steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant: faithful friends.

4.

reliable, trusted, or believed.

5.

adhering or true to fact, a standard, or an original; accurate: a faithful account; a faithful copy.

loy·al

[ loi- uhl]

ADJECTIVE

1.

faithful to one's sovereign, government, or state: a loyal subject.

2.

faithful to one's oath, commitments, or obligations: to be loyal to a vow.

3.

faithful to any leader, party, or cause, or to any person or thing conceived as deserving fidelity: a loyal friend.

4.

characterized by or showing faithfulness to commitments, vows, allegiance, obligations, etc.: loyal conduct.

I know my dog is loyal to me. Some breeds more than others. Zita is part Chow. Chows are very loyal dogs. She would do anything for me and would protect me till her death.  But yet we always call her our faithful dog Zita.

I know I'm a faithful husband, but am I loyal to the death of my wife?  If a killer asked me to choose between killing me or her (Even though I love her, knowing that I love myself more than anything or anyone else in the world), I'm not sure what I would say. BTW, I know she loves me, but I also know she loves herself more than anything or anyone else in this world, sooo, I'm not sure what she would say.

I do know that if we were in a deadly car accident, I would do everything in my power to save her. I also believe she would do the same for me. I guess that means I'm both faithful and loyal to her - food for thought.

I love my dog, but would I risk my life to save her from a deadly accident?  To be honest,  probably not.  Does that mean I'm not a faithful and loyal person  - food for thought.

I do know faithful and loyal people don't cheat. Faithful and loyal people don't lie (even on their taxes). Faithful and loyal people don't throw friends under the bus. Faithful and loyal people don't let someone else take the fall for something they have done. 

I wish I had bosses who were faithful and loyal. I wish I had wives who were faithful and loyal. I wish some of my friends were faithful and loyal. I wish I had a cat who was faithful and loyal (faithful and loyal is not their nature. It's not their fault - its natural selection).

The problem is being faithful and loyal is not the true nature of way too many people - sad world.

I want to live in a world of the faithful and loyal. I guess that's not realistic, but I assure you I'm doing my best to be associated only with the ones who are:

Faithful/Loyal