The spiritual practice of stewardship is the voluntary and generous offering of God’s gifts of our resources, time, talents and treasure for the benefit and love of God and others. There are 3 key principles that help us understand stewardship from flowing from Jesus’ command to us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).
1) The Principle of Ownership: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). Nothing we have really belongs to us. Everything belongs to God – and we are stewards of his wealth, gifts, opportunities, belongings, relationships and more! 2) The Principle of Responsibility: We are responsible for how we treat all God’s gifts to us and what we do with them. 3) The Principle of Accountability: Like the servants in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), we will be called to one day give an account to God of how we have administered everything we have been given.
Suggestions for practicing stewardship: 1) Ask yourself what you need to have to be content, and how you might live on less so others might have more, 2) ask God to speak to you about what percentage of your income he wants you to give back to him that will stretch you and grow your faith, 3) encourage your family to drop their change into a jar; when you hear of a need, offer what is in the jar to meet that need, 4) what time or talent can you give to a service opportunity or mission? 5) consider the legacy you are passing on to others. What do you want people to say about your stewardship of your time, talent and treasure after you are gone? – Judi Brandow, Office Team Leader & Communications Specialist
Comments are closed.