Faithful Stewardship

"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!'” (Matt 25:23 NIV) 

The human heart hungers to be fruitful. We want to be effective. We deeply desire to fulfill a great purpose. We want our lives to count. We desire to be “in charge of many things.” Although much of our culture reflects this innate desire of humanity, many fail to achieve a significant level of effectiveness because many fail to follow the path that leads to abundant fruitfulness.

The covenant with Abraham exemplifies this innate desire to be fruitful. The Lord said He would bless Abraham. But the Lord also said that Abraham would be a blessing. The purpose of the Lord’s blessing is to empower us to be a blessing. To enable us to make a difference. To empower us to be fruitful.   God knows that we hunger to be a blessing. This is why He made a covenant with us to empower us to do so. The greatest purpose a person can have is living a life that is a blessing to others. Jesus embodied this Spirit of love.

So often in this endeavor we focus on the fruitfulness. We want to make a difference. We have big dreams of making an impact. We read of the giants of the faith and we hunger to overcome kingdoms, tear down strongholds, facilitate massive revival, or even heal the sick and raise the dead. This is why Jesus is so great. He is a man who was amazingly fruitful. But, the foundation of all these giants of the faith was their faithfulness.

Faithfulness is intimately linked with stewardship. In my mind, faithful stewardship is mastering the art of maximizing the resources that are in my hand today so I can enhance my chances of reaching my dreams tomorrow. Faithfulness leads to fruitfulness. We cannot control the outcome of our lives, entirely. We cannot decide to be struck by a blinding light and called to revolutionize the world, like the apostle Paul. We cannot guarantee that we will achieve our dreams of financing the kingdom of God through an enormously prosperous business. We cannot determine the outcome of our ministries, the number of people we lead to Christ, or how many poor children we can feed. It is not for us to decide when we are born, what giftings we are given or what opportunities we will have. But, every human has the power to be faithful with those things they have been given. Whatever my hand may find to do, I can do it with all my might. Whatever we do, in word or deed, we can do all in the name of the Lord. I may not be in control of my destiny, but I am in complete control of my faithfulness. I can be faithful every day.   As Moses, we can be faithful in “all our house”, in all that we do.  As the Greek philosopher Epictetus said: “Practice yourself in little things, and thence proceed to greater.”

Be a faithful steward in every little thing and you will eventually find yourself in charge of many things.