Wednesday August 10, 2011

Read Luke 8:18; 12:42-44; 16:10-15

 

The Scope of Stewardship

When the topic of stewardship comes up, most people think of only one area: money. But from a Biblical point of view, stewardship is all-inclusive. It touches every area of life, including our time and talent as well as our treasure.

 

Stewardship is faithfully using whatever God gives us (opportunities, interests, skills, employment, family, talents, spiritual gifts, land, money, etc.) for His glory.

 

The theme of stewardship ranges from Genesis 1-2 when God made the man and woman stewards of this planet, to Revelation 21-22 when God will make His children stewards of the new creation.

 

The Lifestyle of Stewardship

If Biblical stewardship involves every facet of life, it requires a basic commitment on our part: we must present ourselves to God as His servants, with no conditions attached. The real issue of stewardship is whether we are administrating our affairs and possessions as though they are ours or as though they are God's.

 

The pattern of our lives is shaped by the decisions we make, and the greatest of these decisions is this: Am I the lord of my life, or is God the Lord of my life? We will either seek to rule our own lives (the tragedy of the first Adam), or submit to the rule of God (the triumph of the second Adam). This is the difference between the great I WILL (Isaiah 14:13-14) and the great THY WILL (Matthew 6:10; Mark 14:36).

 

Whether we realize it or not, we face this decision many times in the course of each day. Our answer to this question will determine how we manage the time, abilities, and money God has placed under our care.

 

All of us have legitimate physical and psychological needs, and God wants us to trust Him to meet these needs. Satan would deceive us into depending upon our own abilities and resources to meet our needs, while God tells us to depend upon Him. While selfless living is the essence of righteousness, selfishness is the essence of sin. The difference between grabbers who live for themselves and givers who live for God and others is the difference between saving our lives for our own sakes and losing our lives for Christ's sake (see Mark 9:34-37). We cannot keep what we do not give away.

 

When we trusted Christ, we exchanged the old for the new; we passed from death into life, from darkness to light, from sight to faith, and from an earthly to a heavenly citizenship (John 3:36; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 3:21; Colossians 1:13). True stewardship reflects this exchange in a lifestyle ordered by the lordship of Christ over all things. We are free to give without expecting anything in return because our needs are fully met in Christ.

 

Take a while to assess your entire life. In which areas would you say you are a

 

a/. grabber? b/. giver?

 

Prayer:

> Pray for the school chaplains that they will have more opportunities to reach out to the youth today and that we will see a growing number of teenagers at  Friday Youth nights.

> Pray for the youth in the congregation to remain spiritually strong as they face the temptations of today’s modern world.