This Week's Devo

Stewarding Our God-Given Citizenship

If God were to ask you today, “What did you do with what I placed in your hands?”—how would you answer?

Not long ago, my daughter celebrated her twelfth birthday. All she wanted was money to go shopping. After opening cards from family and friends, she had a whopping $300 to spend—quite the fortune for a newly turned twelve-year-old. 

We went to her favorite stores and shopped the day away. True to her personality, she carefully considered each purchase before making a decision. 

When we got home, she couldn’t wait to show Daddy her treasures. With each item she pulled from the bag, she explained how much she spent and why she believed it was worth the cost. By the time she had finished, she had accounted for every dollar—both spent and saved. She wanted him to know she had handled what was entrusted to her with care. 

Watching her thoughtfully account for money she didn’t earn—but had been given—made me pause. Are we as careful in accounting for the gifts our Heavenly Father has entrusted to us? Do we give the same intentional consideration to how each gift is used, how each talent is spent?

And as I reflected on her careful accounting, I realized how often we overlook some of the most significant things God has entrusted to us—not possessions, but influence, opportunity, and responsibility—gifts that often show up most clearly in how we live as citizens where God has placed us.

Jesus speaks directly to this kind of stewardship in a parable found in Matthew 25. 

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.” —Matthew 25:14-15

Jesus is intentional to tell us that the master divided the money “in proportion to their abilities.” This wasn’t favoritism—it was wisdom. Each servant received exactly what the master knew he could steward. Different assignments did not reflect different worth, only different responsibility. And when the master returned, faithfulness—not comparison—was the measure. 

These servants weren’t outsiders—they belonged to the master’s household and lived under his authority, carrying responsibility within his kingdom. 

While the servants had no control over what was entrusted to them, they did have a choice in how they responded. With each gift, no matter how big or small, the servants were each entrusted with influence, opportunity, and responsibility. 

“The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.” —Matthew 25:16-18

Influence was present in every portion given. Each servant possessed the ability to affect outcomes through their presence, voice, or action—carrying weight in their own personal spheres. 

Opportunity was available to all as each servant had time between entrustment and return. They weren’t entrusted one day and then held accountable the next. They had opportunity to choose their action, initiate it, and reap the results. 

And whether they realized it or not, responsibility existed the moment the gifts were received. They each possessed something they would have to give an account for when the master returned. The responsibility was proportionate to what they had been given; it was personal, and unavoidable.

The first two servants understood that influence wasn’t meant to be preserved, but multiplied. They acted without delay, invested what they had been given, and embraced the responsibility to steward it well. Their obedience produced growth, return, and honor for their master. Influence expanded because it was exercised. 

The last servant squandered it all through his choice to bury the bag. Though he possessed influence, he refused to engage it. He defined his opportunity by fear rather than trust. And he chose self-protection over responsibility. This servant mistook inaction for safety, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. Inaction was the choice that shaped his outcome. Instead of having something to honor the master with upon his return, the servant’s buried influence dishonored the trust the master had placed on him.

The first two servants teach us that we must take responsibility seriously, act with intention, and multiply what we’ve been given—even when that stewardship takes the form of our God-given citizenship, the entrusted role of participating in and stewarding the community where God has placed us.

Citizenship is not accidental—it’s assigned. God places individuals within specific communities, states, and nations. With that placement comes stewardship. 

The call to faithful citizenship transcends state lines and seasons and charges us to exercise our influence—our voice, our example, our ability to shape conversations and values—in our families, churches, workplaces, and local and public spaces. Our influence is exercised when we speak, model, and advocate for truth. 

Influence unused is influence buried.

Opportunity is ever before us. Within the United States, we have the freedom to participate in the civic process. We have time to learn and engage. And we have access to systems and processes that allow us to use our influence in a timely and effective way. But within opportunity is always the choice to act, delay, or disengage entirely. Opportunity is season-sensitive; it is meant to be seized, not postponed.

Influence is what we carry, opportunity is what we’ve been given, but responsibility is how we respond. It is inseparable from influence and opportunity. As believers, our responsibility as faithful citizens includes prayerful discernment, seeking wisdom from the Holy Spirit, and acting in courage and conviction. It is not fulfilled by awareness alone, but in faithful action aligned with truth. 

Most of us don’t feel ‘talented’ in the dramatic sense—but Jesus teaches us that stewardship isn’t about spotlight moments. It’s about everyday faithfulness. 

As headlines grow louder and the noise of our culture increases, it’s easy to feel either overwhelmed or tempted to tune out. But this parable reminds us that disengagement is not neutrality—it’s a choice.

So when Jesus returns and He asks you what you’ve done with what He placed in your hands, how will you respond?

You don’t have to be an elected official to make a difference in the public square.

You have influence to invest.

You have opportunity to learn and engage.

You have a responsibility to act with courage and conviction.

It’s time to stop viewing civic engagement as a distraction and start treating it like a mission field—an entrusted gift to be stewarded well. 

Your citizenship is a calling—not a coincidence.

**Not sure how to use your voice in the public square? Connect with your state’s Family Policy Council and find ways to engage! In New Mexico, New Mexico Family Action Movement (NMFAM) exists to help educate and equip families to engage with courage and conviction. Connect with NMFAM today!