Luke 16:10(NLT)
“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”
Jesus Christ is teaching us about principles that apply to our attitude about money. He points out that if we don’t learn to properly handle our finances when we only have a small amount, we will not be able to handle money of large amounts. This principle can and should be applied to every area of our lives. A big part of understanding the importance of spiritual preparation for marriage is recognizing that without it, the blessing doesn’t land in our hands. We can’t reach up and grab blessings when we lack the spiritual strength to do so. This is not a new revelation, but it might be to those who are not putting themselves in check. They are unaware of how their attitudes, behaviors, and habits affect their ability to be conditioned and positioned for what God has in store.
Being faithful in the little things is being faithful to our responsibilities to the Lord even when our circumstances are not optimal. God is not in heaven holding a measuring stick to determine how far or close we are to this standard. He has woven the laws of His Kingdom into the universe. They work on automatic. He designed the universe in such a way that it cooperates with our efforts to be faithful to Him, and it will not cooperate when we go in the opposite direction. God tells us to have faith and to express it by being faithful to seek Him in all that we do because He wants us to remain in the overflow of His blessings.
Some of us have grown weary in our desire to be married. We have taken an attitude of “If He blesses me with a husband, fine, if He doesn’t, that’s okay too.” That’s not faith. Faith is a fully persuaded, sold-out belief that we will have the thing we have prayed to receive. It is wholeheartedly trusting the faithfulness of our Heavenly Father. Our behavior towards God’s blessings must be intentional, which means we intend to both sow into His Kingdom and to receive blessings from it.
2Corinthians 13:5(NLT) tells us, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves.” When our faith is genuine our faithfulness to do the things that God requires will be as well. Faithfulness is a quality of character. It’s being committed to something no matter what. It requires us to be consistent, determined, and committed, even when no one is looking. Even when things are difficult, you remain committed to doing what’s right.
Some of us are faithful to tithe, read and study God’s Word, and to pray often for others and ourselves. We pay more attention to the things of this world than we do the things of God. We don’t sow into His Kingdom to the extent we are required, and this more than any other reason keeps us separated from the blessings we desire most. We may think we’re ready to handle the responsibility of marriage, but our faithfulness to God determines this. He examines our hearts to see what’s at the core of our desires. He sees whether we have faith in Him and if we are faithful to do the things that back up our faith.
When our behavior is intentional about receiving God’s treasures, our actions will convey that. Our Heavenly Father is aware of our aching hearts and loneliness, and He wants us to have faith that He has empowered us to do something about this. No longer can we waste time or be apathetic about the things of God. We must be attentive to our relationship with God and demonstrate to Him that we have established a level of faith and faithfulness in our character that will be a blessing to our future husbands and families.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Intentional Behavior towards God’s Blessings” written by Kim Times, edited by Fran Mack and K. Stephens for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2023. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!