Our theme for the month of May is called, “Great Expectations—will you win Trust?” 

It plays out like this: God has proven He can be trusted. When we trust Him and we respond to Him with our abilities, then we are responsible. And when we are responsible, we live a good story. We are a light to others. They will see our good works and glorify God because of how they see Him at work in us.

Our monthly memory verse says it this way, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,” (Luke 16:10, NIV).

Week One, we start with the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and focus on responding to God by giving Him our stuff—our money and our abilities. Everyone’s been given something and we can choose to invest what we’ve been given to make a difference in the world around us. The worst thing is to just sit on it, bury it and save it for later. Bottom Line: I can be trusted when I make the most of what God has given me.

Week Two, we discover our words matter (Ephesians 4:29). We’ll talk about how we can become trusted people by the way we build others up based on what they need. When we show responsibility with our words, we create trust between us. So, one of the best things we can do for our relationships is to learn to choose our words carefully. We might even get more opportunities to impact even more people.Bottom Line: I can be trusted when I choose the right words.

Week Three, we unpack the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). In this powerful narrative, we see how the people we most expect to be responsible aren’t. We’re challenged to be more like the Samaritan because he could be trusted to act and do the right thing, even if he was busy and it cost him something. We don’t want to be people that say the right things, but then don’t act on them when they have the chance. Bottom Line: I can be trusted when I choose to help others in need. 

Week Four, we review with the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:34-37). Our greatest responsibility is something very good: loving Someone who loved us first and loves us most—so much He willingly sacrificed for us. When we choose to love God more than anything else, our other responsibilities (like using our stuff, choosing our words and acting to help others) are much easier to live out. When we get the relationship part right, being responsible is a natural expression of our love. Bottom Line: I can be trusted when I put God first.

It’s important to remember that we can’t do any of this on our own. But God isn’t asking us to! God is the One who’s proven He’s responsible and trustworthy since the very beginning. Our responsibility is really a reflection of God and His character showing up in us. We can be responsible because of God’s power at work in us to help us respond to Him with everything we have—our ability, our stuff, our words, our time and our actions. Imagine how the world might change if we lived out these “great expectations” and became even more trustworthy people!

Written By Cara Martens. ©2012 Orange. All rights reserved. www.WhatIsOrange.org * All rights reserved. Used by permission.