Loyalty is rare. It is quite difficult these days to find a loyal person — but loyalty is essential for building relationships, families, and even for building businesses. Loyalty is quite underrated, and it is often taken for granted.

When we say that we know someone loves us, do we remember their love by their big gestures, or by that one mundane thing they do to us consistently? When we fight with them, do we bring up big conflicts of the past, or do we remember the thoughtful little thing they did for us just the day before?

Loyalty isn’t just reflected in how someone sticks around. It is in the amount of respect, love, and thought that a person has for us. It is reflected in their daily attitude and behaviour, the things they do when we’re not around. A loyal, devoted love is a love that is specific, grown-up, attentive, and whole.

As humans, we are not perfect, we are still being made faithful. With every obstacle that we face, with everything that challenges our patience, we are being shaped to become the loyal person that we are meant to be. Loyalty is the evidence of maturity in someone, and being mature means to put the other’s needs above our own. This is the backbone of a family. Families consist of people who are faithful to each other, people who are faithful in being a part of the family.

And this is also exactly what it means to be in love. To be in love or devoted to one another means to be mature enough to put each others’ interests first, to remain faithful in both the big and the small things, to respect one another, and to cherish them — because they are rare. Because there is only one of them in this world.