I profess to be all about being a good steward. I feel that I should be a good steward to the animals we eat (chicken, beef, etc), so I go out of my way to get free range, hormone free, etc. etc. etc. eggs and such.
I believe that being a good parent is being a good steward of the gift of children that God has blessed us with.
I believe in being a good steward of my money.
I believe that making the most of the education I am blessed with being able to get is being a good steward of that blessing.
In short, being a good steward to what God has given us has a LOT to do with self-discipline. It also has a lot to do with our HEARTS.
I am not talking about works, and doing stuff to earn our way into heaven. That doesn't happen. There is no amount of anything we can do to pay God back for this free gift of salvation.
I am talking about doing things because it is right. I am horrible in the self-discipline area, however I have been working on it this past week. The pastor preached on good time stewardship last week, and it was something God was already dealing with me about. So, I put some things into action this week and have found more time on my hands than I really know what to do with!
IT.IS.AWESOME!
Back to the heart issue though, because truly, being a good steward of these things has to come out of the love of our hearts. As we draw closer to God, we become more godly. Do we stop sinning? Not necessarily, we will never be perfect. BUT, God transforms our hearts, and out of that we have a greater desire to please Him, and to serve Him. Not out of duty, but out of LOVE.
Here is an example: At one point in my life I hated to clean. Such a pain to clean up after myself (I know...how lazy, right?). However, God saw fit to bring a neat freak into my life, who I have fallen madly in love with, and married 7 years ago. When we married, we immediately moved to Italy where he was stationed. I stayed home all day, and with nothing to do I cleaned our apartment every single day.
UH-OH! I realized later that I set a precedent I was not sure I was willing to keep up (HA!)...at first I did it because I was bored. Then when we moved back to the States, I did it because I felt like I had to.
Now though...now I do it because I love my husband very much. I am home all day, and I want him to come home and be able to relax. I know that if I leave a mess he will feel obligated to clean it. I think of it as serving (in a good way, not in Leave it to Beaver, slave kind of way). I want to be a blessing to my husband, because I love him so much. Keeping my house clean is one way for me to do that.
As my love for my husband grew, my desire to please him and bless him grew too.
As we draw near to God, as we begin to see and experience His love, mercy, grace, etc. our desire to please Him grows, our hearts are transformed and softened, and we do things that are right because we love Him, and desire to please Him.
I have a long way to go. I am not perfect. Yesterday I threw the whole "good steward of my time" thing OUT the window, because it was a rough day. But, I am back on the wagon today and I am trusting God to give me the grace to stop being lazy and "Just do it"!
I believe that being a good parent is being a good steward of the gift of children that God has blessed us with.
I believe in being a good steward of my money.
I believe that making the most of the education I am blessed with being able to get is being a good steward of that blessing.
In short, being a good steward to what God has given us has a LOT to do with self-discipline. It also has a lot to do with our HEARTS.
I am not talking about works, and doing stuff to earn our way into heaven. That doesn't happen. There is no amount of anything we can do to pay God back for this free gift of salvation.
I am talking about doing things because it is right. I am horrible in the self-discipline area, however I have been working on it this past week. The pastor preached on good time stewardship last week, and it was something God was already dealing with me about. So, I put some things into action this week and have found more time on my hands than I really know what to do with!
IT.IS.AWESOME!
Back to the heart issue though, because truly, being a good steward of these things has to come out of the love of our hearts. As we draw closer to God, we become more godly. Do we stop sinning? Not necessarily, we will never be perfect. BUT, God transforms our hearts, and out of that we have a greater desire to please Him, and to serve Him. Not out of duty, but out of LOVE.
Here is an example: At one point in my life I hated to clean. Such a pain to clean up after myself (I know...how lazy, right?). However, God saw fit to bring a neat freak into my life, who I have fallen madly in love with, and married 7 years ago. When we married, we immediately moved to Italy where he was stationed. I stayed home all day, and with nothing to do I cleaned our apartment every single day.
UH-OH! I realized later that I set a precedent I was not sure I was willing to keep up (HA!)...at first I did it because I was bored. Then when we moved back to the States, I did it because I felt like I had to.
Now though...now I do it because I love my husband very much. I am home all day, and I want him to come home and be able to relax. I know that if I leave a mess he will feel obligated to clean it. I think of it as serving (in a good way, not in Leave it to Beaver, slave kind of way). I want to be a blessing to my husband, because I love him so much. Keeping my house clean is one way for me to do that.
As my love for my husband grew, my desire to please him and bless him grew too.
As we draw near to God, as we begin to see and experience His love, mercy, grace, etc. our desire to please Him grows, our hearts are transformed and softened, and we do things that are right because we love Him, and desire to please Him.
I have a long way to go. I am not perfect. Yesterday I threw the whole "good steward of my time" thing OUT the window, because it was a rough day. But, I am back on the wagon today and I am trusting God to give me the grace to stop being lazy and "Just do it"!
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