4 Key Financial Responsibilities for Christians

The more you learn to handle money God’s way, the more likely He is to entrust you with more. And I want that for you. You have four responsibilities that are important for you to understand.

1. Be faithful with what you have.

God wants us to be faithful regardless of how much we have. Jesus told a parable about money to illustrate this. “It will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents [a sum] of money, to another two talents” (Matt. 25:14-15).

When the man returned, he praised the faithful servant for his management of the five talents: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21). Interestingly, the servant who had been given two talents and the one who had been given five talents received the identical reward. God rewards faithfulness regardless of the amount.

We are required to be faithful whether we have much or little. As someone once said, “It’s not what I would do if one million dollars were my lot; it’s what I am doing with the ten dollars I’ve got.”

“We are required to be faithful whether we have much or little.”

2. Be faithful with 100 percent.

God wants us to be faithful in handling all of our money. Unfortunately, most Christians have been taught how to handle only 10 percent of their income God’s way—the area of giving. And although this area is crucial, so is the other 90 percent, which most people have learned to handle from the world’s perspective.

However, the Bible gives us guidance on how to earn, spend, give, save, invest, get out of debt, and teach our children how to handle money. In short, everything you need to know about handling money wisely is found in the Bible. Since most people have not been equipped to handle 100 percent of their money God’s way, many of them have wrong attitudes toward possessions. This often leads to incorrect financial decisions and painful consequences. God correctly observed, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6).

3. Be faithful in little things.

Jesus said, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much” (Lk. 16:10 NASB). This is critical for you to understand. If you have the character to be faithful with small financial things, God knows that He can trust you with greater things. Missionary statesman Hudson Taylor said it this way, “Small things are small things, but faithfulness with a small thing is a big thing.”

Think about it. How do you know if a child is going to take good care of his first car? Observe how he cared for his bicycle. How do you know if a salesperson will do a competent job of serving a large client? Evaluate how she served a small client. If you spend small amounts wisely, God knows He can trust you with more.

Some people become frustrated by the inability to solve their financial problems quickly. They abandon the goal of becoming debt free or increasing their saving or giving because the task looks impossible. And sometimes the task is impossible without God’s help. Your job is to make a genuine effort, no matter how small it may appear, and then leave the results to God. I love what God said, “Do not despise these small beginnings” (Zech. 4:10 NLT). Don’t be discouraged. Be faithful to do what you can—even though it may seem insignificant.

4. Be faithful with other people’s stuff.

Faithfulness with another’s possessions will, in some measure, determine how much you are given. The Bible says, “If you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?”[1]

This is often overlooked. Ask yourself these questions. Are you careless with your employer’s office supplies? When someone allows you to use something, do you return it in good shape? I am certain that God has not entrusted more to some because they have been unfaithful with others’ possessions.

---

[1] David McConaughy, Money the Acid Test (Old Tappan: NJ: Revell, 1919), xx.