“The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.” (NAB, LK 16:10) Jesus reminds us today, that it’s not just about the big things in life; little things matter.
God calls us to be faithful, trustworthy, and reliable to him in the “less important” things in life. We all profess that we want to love God and love our neighbor, but oftentimes this becomes an abstraction, a lofty goal, or an ideal, that, deep down, we don’t believe is really possible, at least not all of the time. This leads us to sometimes “cheat” when it comes to ordinary things. We cut corners, we leave work early, or don’t put our best effort into a project. When a cashier rings up the wrong amount and it benefits us, and we knowingly pocket the change we think, “Oh well, the business has made plenty of money from me in the past.” When we pay taxes and pad our expenses “just a little” thinking the government takes too much anyway. Even more so, when it seems that everyone else is doing some minor offense, we sometimes follow right in line.
One of the problems with little sins is that they produce little guilt, and little guilt allows for them to become frequent. Think of how tiny are maggots, insects, locusts, and the like. Yet, though small in size, in great numbers they cause immense destruction. They fully consume and annihilate whatever they’re attacking. If you were to find one of these in your pantry, you would eliminate it immediately! Why not so in our spiritual lives?
And counter to this, our faithfulness to God is precisely demonstrated in our faithfulness, integrity, and reliability in the daily, ordinary things of life. Being on time, praying, respecting others, taking short moments to be with God, and being honest, loving, and caring with others in seemingly insignificant events in our lives, can be the truest test of our trustworthiness, commitment, and dedication to God in the larger things. Our consistency is what matters. Bringing God into the little actions of our life expresses our greater commitment to him. Lord, help us to do what we say we believe, and be who we say we are, especially in the little things of life. Amen.
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