Be Faithful In the Little
It's sometimes tough to be faithful in the little things of life. We want to do big things, but we struggle to be faithful in the small, seemingly insignificant tasks of life. If this is where you're at today, here are some words of encouragement!
There’s nothing like teaching chores to kids to help me examine my motive for doing things around the house. When I ask my older ones to clean up, I often hear words like, “But I didn’t make this mess,” “We cleaned yesterday,” or my favorite, “Is someone coming over?”
The same can be said for personal tasks like brushing teeth, washing hair, or changing into clean clothes. The menial, everyday things we do on repeat.
And yet in the mundane, I’ve also found building blocks for strength and resilience. Whenever I’ve gone through a rough patch in life, it’s the daily habits that often keep my head above water.
A morning routine of black coffee and the Dwell Bible app. A gratitude journal. Intermittent Fasting. Exercise. Healthy eating. Taking my supplements. Getting eight hours of sleep. Starting with the laundry and dishes when the house feels overwhelming. Keeping up the daily habits of brushing my teeth, washing my face, and getting in “day clothes” every day, even if I’m not leaving my house.
Be Faithful In the Little
I think this is part of what Jesus was talking about in Luke 16:10 when he said, “Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.”
Am I saying it’s "unrighteous" to struggle with a messy house with four kids, eight and under? Absolutely not. But I do think the “little” can apply to more than being honest in business transactions or not telling white lies.
The daily habits we build are the foundation for much of how we live our lives. If we feel like we can never host or invite someone over because our belongings have taken over, we may need to do a purge. If we struggle to do anything productive around the house because we wear grungy clothes and go a long time between showers, our hygiene probably needs to improve. If we’re grouchy at work or with our kids because we consistently stay up late watching shows or scrolling, we need to work on self-discipline.
Occasionally, I’ll catch myself in a rut, thinking:
- Why am I so anxious? Here’s when I check my screen time and food and water intake.
- Why do I feel so sluggish? I check my exercise and supplements.
- Why do I feel overwhelmed and angry with my house? This one’s usually obvious. I haven’t enforced putting things away with the kids, and have put off dinner dishes and daily laundry.
- Why do I feel overwhelmed and dissatisfied? My daily time with God and grateful journaling has been slacking.
Build Self-Discipline
Over time, especially if we’ve worked to build good habits, we can usually easily identify where we’ve gotten off track.
But why is this important? Like I said, would we call it “unrighteous” for a homeschool mom of four to struggle with a messy house? If you’ve been there, my guess is your answer would be a resounding, “NO!”
However, the truth of Jesus' words is that when we build in self-discipline and the ability to follow through, we are enabled to do more difficult things well and more consistently. We’re able to do them faithfully.
It’s a little bit like what I used to tell my eighth-grade algebra students. Will you use algebra every day for the rest of your life? Likely, no. But learning the steps of problem solving will build pathways in your brain that set you up to be able to think more strategically.
Likewise, when we build in godly habits and discipline in the small things, we create pathways in our brains that set us up for obedience in the big things.
So be faithful in the little this week.
