“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” —Luke 16:10 (NIV)
No, this is not a post about being faithful in a relationship. Yes, if you’re in a committed partnership with someone, you should be faithful to that, but that ain’t really what I’m talking about today!
So I’m taking a finance class at my church, because one of my 2018 goals on my vision board is to better manage my money. We’re just really getting started, but one of the biggest things we’ve discussed is being a “good steward” of our finances that have been entrusted to us. The mark of a good steward is one that is found to be faithful over one’s property, taking great care of what you’ve been blessed with.
But I quickly realized that being faithful or a “good steward” is just about the money you have in the bank. It’s about EVERYTHING. Your job. Your side hustle. Your possessions. Your time and energy. And yes, your relationships with family, friends, and your significant other. And whatever else you can think of to add to the list.
So often, we pray and meditate and dream of having more. We want a bigger house. A nicer, more expensive car. A new job with amazing pay and benefits, or for our business to have incredible growth. We want all of these increases, but, if we’re real, a lot of times, we haven’t taking care of the things we have now! We want a bigger house or better car, but the ones we have now are a hot mess. We want new levels in our career, but we procrastinate and don’t give our all in the jobs we have now! We want this, this, that, and the third, but we haven’t proven that we can take care of the things that are already in our possession.
That was a point hit me hard, and forced me to look at how I was doing with not only my money, but everything that I have now. I want to move to higher heights, but there still some priorities and lessons I’ve got to get straight at the level I’m at now. Because, even I get more now, I surely would have the same bad habits unless I nip them in the bud. An increase in writing work means nothing if I’m not focused like I should be and not getting the work done as well as I could be. A pay raise will quickly fall by the wayside if I’m still spending however and whenever I want.
[ctt template=”9″ link=”7LYPI” via=”no” ]”We want this, this, that, and the third, but we haven’t proven that we can take care of the things that are already in our possession.”[/ctt]
Let’s keep it 100. How can you really expect that you will blessed with whatever “more” you want in your life, when you’re barely or poorly managing what you have now? The bad habits you have now when it comes to time management, money, cleaning up, etc., aren’t going to just automatically go away because you have bigger and better. You have to put in the work to better manage what you are currently a steward of. You have to develop better habits over the things you’ve have now!
The big things will come. The new job will come. The business or blog will grow. The finances will get better. And, hopefully, you get that new place or car you’ve been dreaming of. But FIRST, you have to prove yourself faithful (and appreciative!) of what you already have! If you are faithful in the small things, then you can be trusted with even more.
Imperfectly B 