10 “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches? 12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own? Luke 16:10-13
The teenage years are the hardest. As a teen, you want all that you see on tv. Yet, you give little to no thought to how you might pay for it. As a teen, you want freedom. Yet, you have little concern for the responsibility that always comes with it. The teenage years are hard. You want it, yet you have no idea what it takes to get it.
If you’re a teenager, I want to share a secret with you. If you’re not, feel free to pass this along. Your teenage years are all about responsibility. As a teen, every authority in your life will begin to give you small doses of responsibility (taking out the trash, mowing the lawn, driving the car, chores around the house, a curfew, your GPA, and a million others). With each responsibility, the authority in your life is looking for something very specific…TRUST. Can you be trusted with this responsibility? Not just once, but always? If you can be trusted, then you will typically be given more. If not, you will be micro-managed (you know…that authority figure always asking you questions).
Teen, please listen to me…Hear my words. There is not an adult on the planet who wants to ask you 15 times if you took out the trash. Most adults really hate to micro-manage. Most adults are just like you…We love it when people do what they are supposed to do.
I believe there is a spiritual parallel. Every follower of Jesus goes through a maturing process that looks a lot like those frustrating teenage years. (You’re not the exception…No one skips this process)
First, how do you know you are a spiritual teenager? For me that’s a simple answer - you can feed yourself.
Meaning, on your own initiative, you open your Bible to read and pray…You don’t need someone to do it for you.
When you enter this season of spiritual maturity, God begins to give you responsibilities to see if you can be trusted.
This season of maturity looks a lot like serving. Can God trust you with his stuff? During this season, God will give you opportunities to serve. This next sentence is important! I can almost guarantee that your first opportunity will not be what you want to do. Mine was setting up and stacking chairs. Seriously! The first opportunity God gave me to serve was not to preach a message, that didn’t come for a long time. My first shot to show God that he could trust me was could I set up 12 rows of 10 chairs and make sure they were in a straight line? If you’re curious, the answer was yes! I was 19 years old.
I want to share a secret with you. God is watching you…And, He sees it all. He is looking to see how well you can be trusted.
So, what might you do today to show him that you can?
Blessings,
Pastor Matt