How are you stewarding?
Photo by orbtal media on Unsplash
God often whispers to us throughout our days.
Are you familiar with these whispers?
Maybe it is through a song, a word from a friend, through a circumstance, or through nature itself.
Often, it is a word that keeps rising up in your heart, or you see often.
Steward has been one of those whispers that I keep hearing from Him.
I have been hearing it and seeing it so much that I decided to look up the definition…yes, I am a nerd.
A quick google search lead me to the actual biblical definition of the word steward. Good ol’ google!
And I quote…
“In the Bible, stewardship means being a faithful manager of everything God owns, recognizing He is the ultimate owner and we are caretakers of His resources, including our time, talents, health, relationships, and possessions, all to be used for His glory and the betterment of His creation. It's a responsibility to use these gifts diligently, reflecting God's character and participating in His redemptive work, as shown in passages like 1 Corinthians 4:2”
I decided to look up that passage of scripture…
Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:2
Goodness, how does this apply to us?
What are we managers of in our daily lives?
Well, turns out a lot.
I thought about my family first and foremost.
Am I a good manager of my family?
Am I stewarding the ones that He entrusted to me well?
Secondly, I thought about our resources and finances.
Am I stewarding our finances well?
Third, I thought about my gifts and talents from God.
Am I using my gifts and talents well?
I also thought about my time.
Am I stewarding my time well each day?
Jesus tells a story about stewardship in the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25.
A wealthy man was heading off on a long trip. He wanted to invest his money with his servants.
To one servant, he gave 5 bags of silver. To another, he gave two bags of silver, and to another he gave one bag.
When the wealthy man returned home, he found the servant with the 5 bags of silver had doubled his money!
The servant entrusted with two bags of silver, doubled his silver as well!
However, the one entrusted with the smallest amount, the one bag of silver, was afraid of losing the silver so he hid it into the ground.
The master was furious! He ordered the silver to be taken away from the servant and given to the servant who had earned the 5 extra bags of silver.
The master then said….”To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.” Matthew 25:29
Yikes! This is quite scary and sobering!
We may not have bags of silver, but we do have many things entrusted to us.
Our marriages.
Our motherhood.
Our homes.
Our jobs.
Our health.
Our finances.
Our ministries.
Our gifts and talents.
Are we stewarding these well? Or are we neglecting them or hiding them away?
Goodness, we need to ask God for help.
Desperately, I want to take good care of the blessings He has entrusted to me.
All of these things are gifts from God. They are not earned.
Just like the manager in the parable, who gave the servants the silver, God has given us things to steward and manage on His behalf.
Sadly, I can think of many times that I have not been a good steward in some of these areas, if not all of these areas.
However, it is never to late to start back fresh. To take inventory of all of our blessings and responsibilities and ask God daily to help us steward them well.
I have this picture in my mind of a captain of a ship.
If the captain is too busy and distracted with other things…like his phone, or his computer, or entertaining himself….the ship could crash! The captain needs to be focused and undistracted to be able to navigate the responsibility of that ship and well-being of its passengers.
If you are unsure of which areas you may need to steward better, ask God. He will always always always point us in the right direction when we ask Him! He desires a heart of obedience.
Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:24
As we begin this brand new year, let’s daily ask God how to be good stewards. Let’s be faithful in the smallest of things, because those really are the big things!
May this be the Words we hear…
The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ Matthew 25:23
desperate to steward well,
jill
