OPINION —
Have you ever loaned someone something that mattered to you? Maybe it was a tool, a vehicle, a book or something you had worked hard to buy. When you hand it over, there’s always a little bit of trust involved. You’re hoping they’ll take care of it, use it properly and return it in good condition.
That simple experience helps us understand something Jesus teaches in Luke 16. In the parable of the unjust steward, a man is called to account for how he has managed what belonged to someone else. The details of the story can be challenging, but the lesson Jesus draws from it is very clear: “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.”
In other words, faithfulness usually shows up long before the big moment arrives. It’s seen in how we handle the small responsibilities already sitting in front of us. We often imagine faithfulness as something dramatic — standing courageously during persecution, making a great sacrifice or stepping into some enormous opportunity for God. But most of the time, faithfulness looks much more ordinary than that.
It looks like keeping your word when no one would know if you didn’t. It looks like showing up when you said you would, treating people fairly, handling your money responsibly, being dependable at work and honoring God when no one is watching. Those moments may seem small, but Jesus says they reveal something important about our character.
There’s another lesson here that may be even more challenging: most of what we call “ours” really isn’t.
Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” That means our time, abilities, opportunities, resources and influence have all been entrusted to us. Even the years we’ve been given are something we’re managing for a little while.
That changes the way we look at life. Instead of asking, “What do I want to do with what I have?” faithfulness teaches us to ask, “What would God want me to do with what He has placed in my hands?”
That question applies to much more than money. Maybe God has given you a home that can become a place of hospitality. Maybe He has given you an ability that can encourage someone else. Maybe you have experience gained through a difficult season that can help another person walking through the same thing. Maybe the greatest resource you have right now is simply time.
Jesus also teaches that temporary things can be used for eternal purposes. Everything we accumulate in this life will eventually be left behind. Our homes, bank accounts, vehicles, possessions and titles all have an expiration date. Yet while they’re in our hands, they can be used to make a difference that lasts far beyond us.
That’s what makes stewardship such a spiritual issue. Money isn’t just money. Time isn’t just time. Influence isn’t just influence. What we do with those things reveals what we value and who we’re really serving.
Jesus eventually brings the entire discussion to one simple statement: “No servant can serve two masters.” Faithfulness, then, isn’t only about being responsible. It’s about allegiance.
Something will always compete for first place in our lives. It may be money, comfort, success, approval, career or even our own plans. None of those things have to be inherently evil to become dangerous. The problem begins when something good becomes more important than the God who gave it to us.
Perhaps that’s why Jesus starts with the little things. Small choices have a way of revealing which master we’re really serving. The way we treat people, spend money, use our time and respond when no one is watching tells a story about what matters most to us.
We sometimes spend a lot of time asking God for more. More opportunity. More influence. More responsibility. More resources. But maybe before we ask for more, we should ask whether we’re being faithful with what He has already given us.
The opportunity we keep waiting for may already be sitting right in front of us.
There’s someone who needs encouragement. There’s a responsibility that needs our attention. There’s a gift we haven’t been using. There’s a relationship we’ve been neglecting. There’s something God has already placed in our hands.
Faithfulness rarely begins with something spectacular. It begins with today.
One day, all of us will reach the end of our time managing what God has entrusted to us. We won’t all have received the same opportunities, resources or abilities, and God never asks us to be faithful with someone else’s life.
He asks us to be faithful with ours.
So maybe the question today isn’t, “When will God give me something bigger?”
Maybe it’s simply, “Am I being faithful with what He has already placed in my hands?”
Anchored in truth | Faithful with what you’ve been given
