The Little Things Count

In Luke 16:10 it says, “Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones.” (GNT)

God uses little things to test my integrity. It’s not just the big things that count—even though that’s what the world wants me to focus on. But the Bible tells me that God is looking at the smallest details of my life to see if I am faithful to him.

This is true in every area of life, including leadership. It’s often thought that it’s the big things in life that create a leader. No! The big crises in life reveal leadership, but leadership is not built in the big things of life. It’s built in the details of life. That’s where integrity shows up—in the stuff that nobody sees, in the stuff behind the scenes, in the small, unseen, unspectacular choices of life where I do the right thing, even though nobody’s ever going to see it.

Faithfulness requires integrity, and God tests my integrity in the little things.

Jesus said, “Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones” (Luke 16:10 GNT). He’s saying my public blessing is determined by my private integrity.

Every time a politician has a scandal, I can always count on that person’s defenders to come out and say, “It really shouldn’t matter what their private life is like.” Have you ever heard that one? “It really shouldn’t matter what a person does in their private life. It doesn’t have anything to do with them as leaders.”

It has everything to do with them as leaders! Why? Because if a man lies to his wife, he’ll lie to his constituents. If a woman lies to her best friend, to whom she said, “Till death do us part,” she will cheat on us, voters! Count on it!

My public blessing as a leader comes because of private integrity that nobody ever sees. My public blessing as a person comes from your private integrity that nobody will ever see. God uses little things to test my integrity. And faithfulness in the small things will lead to blessings in ways only God can provide.

My integrity is often put on the line in money matters. God calls me to be honest even in small details I could easily ignore. Heaven's riches are far more valuable than earthly wealth. But if I am not trustworthy with my money here (no matter how much or little I have), I will be unfit to handle the vast riches of God's Kingdom. So I need to see that I maintain my integrity in all matters, whether big or small.