Have you ever read a Bible story and thought: Wait, what?
That’s the reaction a lot of people have to Jesus’ parable of the dishonest manager (Luke 16:1–13). On the surface, it sounds like Jesus is praising dishonesty. A manager gets caught cooking the books, and instead of throwing him in prison, his master commends him. But Jesus isn’t holding up corruption as an ideal. He’s showing us something deeper: how we use the resources entrusted to us reveals our character, our priorities, and our faith.
Jeremiah 8:18–9:1 adds another layer. The prophet cries out, “My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick … Is there no balm in Gilead?” Jeremiah’s words capture the sorrow of seeing God’s people squander their gifts. He doesn’t just condemn — he weeps. Both Jesus and Jeremiah show us the cost of unfaithfulness and the urgency of living differently.
Faithful in Little, Faithful in Much
“Whoever is faithful in very little is faithful also in much,” Jesus says. Faithfulness isn’t about brilliance or wealth. It’s about being trustworthy, steady, dependable — making small daily choices of honesty, generosity, and integrity even when no one is watching.
In God’s eyes, those small acts are the building blocks of discipleship. They guard our hearts from drifting into the little compromises and idolatries Jeremiah saw breaking his community apart. Faithfulness may not make headlines, but it shapes souls and societies.
Money as a Tool, Not a Master
Luke talks about money more than any other Gospel because money has spiritual weight. It exposes what we worship. Jesus ends the parable with a clear warning: “You cannot serve God and wealth.” The Greek word mammonas means more than money; it means wealth as an idol — something that demands our loyalty.
Wealth whispers: “I’ll keep you secure. I’ll give you status. I’ll make you important.” But those promises are fragile. A market crash, a lost job, a stack of medical bills — and they vanish. Jesus presses us to remember: only God offers a foundation that cannot be shaken.
Money is never neutral. It either bends toward idolatry or toward discipleship. Like Jeremiah’s people, we can treat blessings as disposable, seeking healing in idols that cannot cure. But there’s only one true balm, and it isn’t found in wealth. If our money becomes our idol, it will betray us. If our money becomes a tool for God’s kingdom, it brings life.
Modern Echoes of Faithfulness
This isn’t just theory. Around the world, ordinary people are embodying this kind of faithfulness. I think of Aparecida de Oliveira, an 80-year-old widow in Brazil, who collected spare change in a bag for years to support a church charity. Despite living on a small pension and raising eight children, she sacrificed coins she could have spent on herself. When she finally brought the bag to Mass, a friar described her offering as “filled with miracles.”
It’s a powerful echo of the widow’s mite (Luke 21:1–4). Both women show us that money and status don’t last — but how we use them does. They gave not out of abundance but out of deep faith and trust.
Three Practices for Faithfulness
So what does this look like for us? Here are three practices to try:
Generosity as Witness. The world says, “Hold on tight. Save for yourself.” Jesus points us toward generosity that testifies to our trust in God. That might look like tithing even when the budget feels tight, or paying for a stranger’s meal, or sponsoring a child’s school supplies. Small acts ripple outward and remind us where our security lies.
Integrity in Finances. Corner-cutting is normal in our culture. Jesus calls us to honesty even when no one is looking — as employees, students, business owners. Integrity may not always maximize profit, but it builds trust, strengthens community, and honors God.
Kingdom Imagination. Jesus invites us to be creative — even shrewd — for the sake of the kingdom. What if we used our homes as places of hospitality? Our professional skills to bless those who can’t pay us back? Our time to mentor a child or encourage a struggling friend? Kingdom imagination asks, “How can what I hold in my hands become a glimpse of God’s justice, mercy, and love?”
Bringing It Home
Both Jeremiah and Jesus challenge us to examine our trust. Do we see our paycheck as ours to spend however we want, or as God’s gift to steward? Do we measure our worth by the size of our account or by our generosity, our care, and our witness?
Money is a tool, not a treasure. A test, not a master. Faithfulness with little leads to trust with much. Every act of mercy and every gift given in love becomes part of God’s healing in the world.
Faithfulness answers Jeremiah’s cry with good news: in Christ, there is balm in Gilead and hope for God’s people. Jesus’ puzzling parable and Jeremiah’s tearful lament meet in a single truth: what we do with what God entrusts us matters. Faithfulness leads to healing and life. Faithlessness leads to grief and ruin.
The good news is that Jesus is faithful even when we are not. He is the balm for our wounds, the treasure worth more than all mammonas, the Master who welcomes us into true riches.
Let’s be faithful in little and faithful in much — living not for wealth, but for God, who is our hope and our healer.