Since August, God has been teaching me on the importance of faithfulness and this is what I have learnt.

Faithfulness & Obedience

Faithfulness is encompassed in so many things. Faithfulness to God in your walking with Him. Faithfulness to what He has asked you to do, the assignments He has given you to complete, the gifts and talents that the Holy Spirit has revealed to you, the place where He has sent you to and even faithfulness to the people that surround you.

We’re all familiar with the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). A master is going away and entrusts to three slaves’ different talents. One slave was given 5 talents, the second was given 2 talents and the last slave was given 1 talent.

Jesus often spoke in parables so that people could understand. The master is God, who is known as Master. The slaves he’s referring to is us. Even though we’re adopted as children (Eph 1:5), friends of Jesus (John 15:15) but we’re also slaves to righteousness because we’ve been set free from the bondage of sin (Rom 6:18).

In the kingdom of God, we’re servants doing the will of God on earth. We all have assignments to do that need to be carried out and Jesus is explaining to them that God gives us all ‘talents’ to be utilised for His divine purpose. And when He returns, He expects to see His will established.

Oftentimes in sermons, we hear these words preached,

“Be faithful with little and you’ll be faithful with much” or “Use what God gave you” or “Don’t bury your talents”. All of these are true but let’s have a closer look at faithfulness.

When the master said to the servant “Well done my good and faithful servant”, really we should be reading it as “Well done my good and faithful [obedient] servant”. The master was pleased because they had obeyed His instructions.

So if I were to ask you the question, are you faithful with what God has given to you or asked you to do? I’m really asking, have you been obedient?

Focus on faithfulness, not the fruit.

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that if it what God asks me to do doesn’t gain a certain result then it’s not from God. And we have to be careful that we don’t quit, give up on God or try and create our own paths because things don’t look how you envisioned it to be. You might have uprooted yourself from where God has planted you, gone to places where He never sent you or do things that He hasn’t graced you to do – all because your fruit doesn’t look a certain way.

Don’t let the size of your fruit determine your level of faithfulness to God.

I get the fruit is important and it’s great to see the harvest from the seeds you’ve been planting. I understand that you don’t want to labour in vain but I need to remind us all of this one thing. If this is all you take away from this blog, then I’m pleased:

Whatever God has asked us to do, will always bear fruit. Period.

In the parable, the first servant repeats the instruction that was given to the master and explains that with the 5 talents that were given to him, he yielded 10 talents. The second servant explains that he was given 2 talents which later yielded 4 talents.

Do we notice that both servants received the same exact praise?

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ (Matt 25:21)

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ (Matt 25:23)

The master praised the two servants and rewards them for their work. He doesn’t treat one differently because one servant had more than the other. Nor does he favour one over the other or makes a comparison between the two. Why? Because the two servants were faithful – more importantly, they were obedient.

So if I know that whatever God asked me to do will always bear fruit, then I should be more focused on being faithful rather than focusing on the size of the fruit.

God doesn’t look at what people see. The world tells us that if we put in X then we should get Y in the end. This is why we need to renew our mind on a daily basis. Whatever we do for God, is worth doing right. And we have to remember that it will always have an eternal value, not an earthly one. Our reward is in heaven and if you get a little recognition, God deserves all the glory.

Be faithful and have a pure heart, don’t do things out of selfish ambition or wrong motives. Work diligently, with a cheerful attitude and wholeheartedly. Do it as unto the Lord and not to be seen by man (Col 3:23).

 

Graced for His good works

If we read the parable again, in Matthew 25:14-15

              “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; ¹⁵ to one he gave five talents,  to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.

The master gave each servant according to their abilities.

In the body of Christ, we are all members of the same body with Jesus being the head. All of us have our own abilities, skill set and areas that we’re not only passionate about but thrive in. These things, God has deposited inside of us since birth to be used for His plan and purpose.

Each servant was given according to their ability and what the master deemed fit.

We can also read it as God graces us to do different things.

Ephesians 2:8-10 says,

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— ⁹ not the result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

By His grace, we are saved and created to do His good works. We’re able to do those good works according to His grace.

There are things that one person can do that another person can’t. Not because they’re incapable but because God has graced them to that very thing. When God’s hand is upon you, there is provision and protection. You are empowered by His Spirit and given the strength to accomplish it.

But whenever we compare ourselves to somebody else and try to copy them, we end up working those things in the flesh and we can find ourselves struggling, forcing it to work and being anxious about everything.

As Christians, we can fall into this trap that if I’m not doing what another person is doing then I’m ineffective in the body of Christ. So instead of doing what God has graced us to do, we go above and beyond. When we start thinking we’re not doing enough, we end up doing too much.

We see leaders in the church, worship singers, musicians, Bible teachers, prophets, evangelists that gain recognition and they’re reaching millions of people. You might have only led one person to Christ or you volunteer in kids church every Sunday but don’t let the enemy deceive you into thinking it’s not enough.

They’re graced by God to have such a big platform and with that, there’s a big responsibility. You might be volunteering but you also have a responsibility as well. That is to preach the Good News to everyone and that they would become saved after coming into the knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

When did we make the Great Commission about us, when did the cause of Christ become centred on ourselves? Jesus reached whoever he reached because Jesus had the heart of God. He met with the Samaritan woman at the well, and she encountered the Living Water who was enough to satisfy her. Jesus also fed the 5,000 who were hungry all from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Were any of those encounters more impactful than the other? Not at all!

If I reach one person then I should rejoice because heaven rejoices at the one that was lost and is now found. If, from my obedience, I only have 3 people that show up to a bible study that God has placed on my heart to do. See them as brothers and sister in Christ, souls rather than numbers. These are people that you have the opportunity to fellowship with, sharpen, pour into and pray for.

Obedience is more important than the outcome. God is pleased when He has servants that are trustworthy but also obedient. It goes from caring about our own will to letting His will be done, even if it seems insignificant in the eyes of other people. Whether you do one thing or a million things, we will all receive the same praise when we stand before the Father. The only validation that matters is from God and hearing Him say these words below:

“Well done, good and faithful servant”