Devotional: Faithfulness
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much."
-Luke 16:10
The definition of faithful is to remain loyal and steadfast.
Being faithful means that you can be trusted because you are not going to haphazardly change your mind. It means that you follow through with what you say you will do. When a couple gets married, the foundation is faithfulness. The bride and groom are trusting one another to be loyal and steadfast no matter what comes their way. This is why God relates to the church as His bride– it’s a covenant for life, through thick or thin.
Faithfulness is why we can trust in God. It’s His nature to be faithful and it makes Him worthy of our praise (Revelation 19:11). If He changed His mind or didn’t keep His promises, then we would have no anchor to hold onto, but Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” God wants us to be faithful to Him because He is faithful to us.
The Bible makes it clear that the most important thing to God, aside from love, is our faith and faithfulness. “Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). He wants us to trust whole-heartedly in Him even when we are at our lowest moments, and He doesn’t feel close. He wants our faith to be steadfast.
When it comes to showing God our faithfulness, we reveal it by believing in His promises. It starts with believing in Jesus– that He paid for all of your sins and through Him alone is how we are saved and become children of God.
We reveal our faithfulness by trusting that He hears our prayers and trusting in His timing. We often want to take control of our situations, but God wants us to relinquish our perceived control into His hands. We can let go and let God do His work inside of us while we wait for His answers.
Ultimately, I want to convey that we reveal our faithfulness by stewarding what He has given to us. It’s easy to find dissatisfaction with where we are in life. We want bigger and better, and we’re bored being in the same spot doing the same things day in and day out. As a Christian, I have also felt, in the past, a desire to do more for Him, not realizing that He has always had me exactly where I needed to be. My job has always been to simply be faithful with what was already stewarded to me even if it seemed “small” or “insignificant.” The thing is, those descriptors couldn’t be further from the truth. With God, the little things are the big things.
In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, each servant was given a different amount. The ones who invested what they were given were told by the master, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”
God wants to test your faithfulness, and He wants to use your faithfulness. Are you going to apply the blessings and gifts you have in order to bless others and His kingdom? Or are you going to bury the talent like the unfaithful servant? God doesn’t expect us all to become missionaries in the Middle East or become evangelist speakers to a crowd of thousands. What He wants from you is to be faithful with the opportunities placed directly in front of you. And more than that, He wants your heart to be faithful to Him.
You own a Bible. Are you reading it?
You have the knowledge of the gospel. Are you going to share it?
You have a home. Are you taking care of it?
If you have pets or children. Are you loving them well?
If you are a student. Are you submitting your best work?
If you have the gift of hospitality. Are you blessing others with that?
If you work a 9-5 job. Are you showing up on time with a good attitude?
Once again, I want to leave you with this: We can be faithful because we trust that He is faithful, just like Hebrews 10:23 says. We can do all things to bring Him glory and He is faithful to make all things work together for good.
Take a moment:
What has God given to you to be faithful over?
Be honest with yourself: have you been a faithful steward of those things?
What changes can you make to be more faithful if you haven’t already been?
What makes it difficult to stay faithful?
Ask the Lord if there are other areas where you have neglected to be faithful.
Exhibiting faithfulness with the opportunities God has placed in front of you is what it means to live by faith.
-Alina