Why Faithfulness in the Little Things is a Big Deal

We've all heard the classic words: "He who is faithful with little will be faithful with much." I cannot count the number of times that I was told to be a "good little boy" in my youth, so I could grow to be a successful adult. It was this mindset that caused me to view life as a staircase, with each step leading me to the "much" that I can be faithful with. I always wondered when it would be my turn to be faithful with much because the little things weren't satisfying my desire to prove just how faithful I could be. 

We can all agree that the abundance of our choices seem small, with a few exceptionally big decisions scattered throughout our time here like speckles on a Dalmatian puppy. It's easy to believe that these small rungs should gradually be replaced by bigger steps in each category of life: work, family, friendships, education, et cetera. We are programmed to "climb the ladder" from an early age. While it is certainly true that some life-altering decisions, such as whom to marry, when to have kids, and whether or not to take an available promotion will likely affect the ultimate outcomes of our lives more than the brand of coffee we drink in the mornings, it's not these decisions alone that comprise the essence of life. 

The danger of the "climb-the-ladder" mentality is that it sets us up to be stagnant, complacent, or even frustrated when we aren't being faced by decisions with greater ripple effects. We can easily develop a constant need to prove ourselves and be approved. The 9 to 5 can get boring. The student's desk and class lectures can grow unbearably dull. The nightly family dinner conversations can become overfamiliar and monotonous. We begin to view these daily routines and seemingly minor decisions as mere steppingstones to the next "much"-level challenge. 

Why is this dangerous? Because it devalues these little things in our eyes. The fact that something is small doesn’t make it unimportant. 

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I have often felt like the bulk of my life is a series of insignificant events, and it can cause me to live from big decision to big decision, instead of simply being content and focused on being the best I can be where I'm at. It short-circuits my daily effectiveness and can even foster arrogance and/or lethargy when approaching the day-to-day demands of life.

It's important to recognize two things: First - We are not too important for the small things. Second - The small things are too important to do half-heartedly. 

Think of it this way. If I could string together each and every small choice in life and create one huge patchwork quilt, representing just one decision, the importance of that one decision would probably far outweigh the importance of every big decision put together because the ratio of small decisions to big decisions is huge. Each and every day is important because (excuse the cliché) we truly don't know how many days we have. And a human life is one extraordinarily large "much" to be faithful with. 

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Faithfulness is not contingent upon the size of the object, but the character of the subject. It is a condition of the heart and mind. If I am a faithful person, I'll be as faithful in any size task because I won't view the size of my situation as the fulcrum upon which my character is resting. If I am a flaky person, I'll be just as flaky in my largest endeavors as I am in my smallest concerns because my very nature is one that lacks commitment and perseverance. 

A faithful person is a faithful person because he or she has prioritized faithfulness, not because a certain situation demands faithfulness more than another. If I allow a certain situation to demand a greater level of integrity than another, then I have forfeited control of my character to external circumstances, which is a terribly confining and destructive way to live. I and I alone have control over the kind of person I am, and if I allow the kind of person I am to change from decision to decision, then I will be unstable and unhappy. If I don't establish the kind of person I will be before I approach each and every decision, then the outcome of my decisions will establish my character for me. 

Of course, this is not to say that we should stretch ourselves thin, trying to do everything. We should prioritize where we spend our time and efforts. But we should do everything we choose to do with a good heart, a resolute mind, and a positive attitude. If we can't devote those attributes to whatever it is we are doing, the action should probably not be done.