the wrong f word

If I hear one more person saying that f word about me I’m going to scream. Why do I feel like it’s the wrong f word? What’s wrong with “faithful”?
“Faithful” implies doing the right thing without result. Weak. Ineffective. Akin to another f word that I hope is wrong: failure.
Yes, of course, I want to do the right thing. But I don’t just want to have been faithful in my work. I want to have been fruitful. That’s the right f word. The one I long for.
A friend – the one I’m married to – points out that “faithful” is the highest affirmation a follower of Christ can obtain. So why does that f word make me feel like a failure?
In the Bible, in the book called Matthew, chapter 25, Jesus tells this parable:

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'
His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

So why does “you’ve been faithful” feel like a backhanded compliment - or even a slap – when people say it to me after 29 years of service? Why am I so sorely disappointed that “faithful” is all they can say?
Perhaps it’s not the wrong word. It’s the wrong voice.
Maybe I’m turning my ear in the wrong direction, straining for the affirmation of people, instead of the Master. People have limited perspective, personal constraints, their own fears about failure. There’s no way they can know what I have accomplished. It’s impossible for them to see into me and understand how I experience their well-intentioned words.
I have to listen up. Turn my ear to the voice of the One who not only sees what I’ve done with what He’s entrusted to me, but knows the words my heart longs to hear. Words like “well done”, “good work”, “faithful and fruitful”, “I can trust you”, and “let’s celebrate”.
“Faithful” suddenly sounds a lot better.

We all know faithful people who inspire us to offer up our talents for the good of others, for the glory of God, and for the sheer joy of being who we're meant to be. Denis and Margie Haack have been that kind of inspiration to me since I met them in Albuquerque in the late 70's. They were faithful then. They're faithful now. And it's a beautiful thing to behold. You can see for yourself some of the fruit of their faithfulness on their blogs:
toadsdrinkcoffee.blogspot.com
blog4critique.blogspot.com

Who have been models of faithfulness to you?
What impact have they had on your life?
Thank God for them.
Now let those folks hear that beautiful f word from you.