The Shopping Cart
I have a theory.
There are two types of people.
Those who take the shopping cart back to the bin.
And those who leave it beside the vehicle.
No one is watching.
No one is grading it.
No reward. No consequence.
Just a small decision that reveals something.
I used to think it was about responsibility.
Now I think it’s about something deeper.
Who I am when it doesn’t count.
Or at least… when I think it doesn’t.
Because those moments add up.
They shape how I move through everything else.
How I lead.
How I treat people.
How I handle things that actually do matter.
Character isn’t built in big moments.
It shows up in small ones.
In the spaces where I could take the easier way and no one would ever know.
Returning the cart doesn’t change the world.
But it says something about the person I’m becoming.
And I’ve realized something I don’t always love.
It’s easier to justify the small things than to confront them.
“It’s just one time.”
“It doesn’t really matter.”
“Someone else will take care of it.”
That logic works in a parking lot.
It doesn’t work in life.
Luke 16:10 says that faithfulness in small things leads to faithfulness in much.
Not because the small thing is important.
But because it reveals something about me.
So I’ve started paying attention to the moments that don’t count.
Because they actually do.
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