You may have wondered what faithfulness is and why it’s so significant in Christendom. Well, faithfulness means steadfastness in allegiance. It’s the virtue that makes a person commit firmly to a cause without wavering. For example, when we say a man is faithful to his wife, it means no matter what happens in his life, he’s willing to protect his marriage at all costs, and that means he has to watch how he relates to every woman very carefully. So, to become faithful to someone or something, you must sacrifice your self-will and pleasures to keep the mission for that bond moving forward.
There are several kinds of faithfulness because life is diversified. In terms of work, there’s faithful service. In terms of marriage, it’s called marital fidelity. All these are important. However, Jesus spoke about three kinds of faithfulness in Luke 16:10-12, one in each verse. And in this article, I’ll be going deeper into each of them. Let’s dive in.
1. Faithfulness in handling what is little
“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” – Luke 16:10 NKJV
According to Jesus, if you’re faithful in handling what little, you’ll also be faithful to manage plenty of things. Why? Because He supplies more grace not to lazy people but to the hardworking.
Sometimes, some of us complain to God about why we aren’t experiencing growth in whatever we’re involved in, whether ministry-wise or business-wise. Well, there can be two explanations for it.
- Either we’re unfaithful to handle the little we have now or
- God is testing our hearts by making us wait patiently for His time to promote us.
In either case, God is up to something. However, for you, you must make a conscious decision not to trivialise whatever activity given to you to do or task to handle because how you’ll handle it is indirectly writing your report card before God. You may have a few church members or business clients for now. But don’t worry. Take good care of God’s flock as a minister, and deliver client’s works on time as a business person. The more you’re faithful, the more God Himself will take you higher.
2. Faithfulness in handling worldly wealth
“Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?” – Luke 16:11 (NKJV)
Unrighteous mammon means worldly wealth. So, according to Jesus, there are true riches and also worldly wealth. Both are not bad. However, you have to prove yourself faithful with worldly wealth before you’ll merit before God to become trustworthy with the true riches in God’s kingdom. So sometimes, financial lack in many lives isn’t really caused by lack of money but lack of faithfulness.
If you use worldly wealth to do evil things, why should God trust You with His kingdom wealth? So you could spend on your pleasures? No, He’ll not do it. That’s why He doesn’t grant prayer requests to people possessing wrong intentions for making prayers before Him (James 4:3).
You can only be faithful with money by learning how to use it and not allowing it to rule over you. Read and listen to Christian resources about finances; so you can be a better manager of your own funds.
3. Faithfulness in handling another man’s property
“And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?” Luke 16:12 (NKJV)
This one goes more to workers. At the workplace, especially in private companies, you’re entrusted with work that’ll help advance another person’s vision. Even if you’re the CEO of a ministry, it’s God that gave you the vision.
If you don’t take care and work effectively, it can be very frustrating. Most people hate their jobs not because of meagre salary or working conditions, but because of unfaithfulness and bad attitude towards it. Perspective changes your response to things. If you see your job as a gift from God to help prosper another person’s vision, you’ll work effectively as unto the Lord. Your job may not be directly connected to your purpose, but the compensation you receive will help you live until you step into the fullness of your calling. So don’t trivialise it.
Moreover, if you faithfully serve at your current position and you get promoted to become a boss, your subordinates will also be faithful to you. That is a principle you must never break. How bad you handle other people’s possessions today illustrates how bad those who work under you will behave in future. Your boss may be a hard man or woman. Don’t grieve. Learn to work effectively with the person as you do unto the Lord. And even when that organisation doesn’t compensate you well, God will reward you with huge favours you never dreamed possible.
Be faithful in these things, and your life will reflect Christ in this perverse generation. You’re a blessing.
