I woke up with this on my mind today so I thought I should share this with y’all. Being a good steward doesn’t just involve being wise with money…
Being a good steward to me involves managing these 3 things wisely… our time, resources, and talents. So let’s break this down and see how we can apply this to our lives.
Being a Good Steward of Time
Our time here on earth the Bible says is fleeting. Psalms 39:4 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.” Fleeting simply means passing by swiftly or quickly.
My Papa’s favorite verse comes to mind on this topic as well…
The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.
We’re about to hit spring and this time of the year is beautiful with flowers and plants budding. It reminds us coming off of a hard winter that there is still hope and beauty after difficult times, or at least it does to me. And as time passes and flowers fade, kingdoms come and go, but God and His word will stand forever.
Photo by Karolina Grabowska
With all these things in mind about time, what can we take away from this and how can we apply this to our lives? I think really just being mindful of time and how precious and short it is as we’re going about our day, can help us make better choices with our time.
We don’t need to be scared that life is short. That isn’t what the Lord would want from us. I believe He just wants to remind us that life is precious and time does pass by so quickly.
It’s important to remember that we aren’t living for enjoyment on earth, we’re living for an eternity in heaven that lasts well beyond our short time on earth.
What we do with our time matters greatly. Will we choose to lead a life glorifying God where we represent Christ so well that it points others to Him or will we just live it for ourselves?
Being a Good Steward of Resources
In most churches, we hear about being a good steward when they’re talking about tithing but there’s more to it than that. A Resource is a source of supply or support.
Being a good steward of our resources means being wise with pretty well everything we are in charge of in our lives. This encompasses everything valuable about us and what we do.
Many of us have an unhealthy view of wealth due to a narrow-minded worldview. We’re taught being wealthy is making at least 6 figures, having a big home, and an expensive car or two.
Did you know that the top 1% of the world earn only $34,000 per year? So if you earn that, congratulations are in order because you are the top 1% richest in the world! This stat comes from economist Branko Milanovic’s book The Haves and the Have-Nots. According to the World Bank, 95% of those living in the developing world earn less than $10 a day.
So many Americans are in debt because they’ve bought into a lie about wealth. They do two major things that the world teaches us to do with our finances because we think we have to have things to be happy. Spending more than they make, many times on credit, and do not save. We need to look to scripture on how to honor God with our finances. I’ve written about this before but I will talk about this more in the future.
Beyond finances, if we listen carefully to the Holy Spirit within us, He will tell us or put on our hearts times where we need to use our resources to help others. It’s not just about money, it’s about the people we know, the things we have learned, and being resourceful.
Jesus shares with us this important lesson in Luke 16:9. Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
He also went on to say that “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
It’s important to not let popularity or wealth go to our head and cloud our judgement. We don’t want to lose sight of who and what is important in our lives. We don’t want to gain the whole world but lose our soul. There are always ramifications for the choices we make that affect not only us but those around us.
How can we apply this to our lives?
We must choose wisely to be a good steward of everything we’ve been blessed with even if it seems little. It’s also equally important to listen to the Holy Spirit and help those in need by either getting them what they need or pointing them to someone who can help them. Sometimes people just need someone to talk to them and really listen.
Being a Good Steward of Talents
We’re all born uniquely and differently on purpose for a purpose. We all have natural talents and strengths that can be nurtured into something great. Being a good steward of our talent means using our talents to do two things: to glorify God and to help others.
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.
Just yesterday I was looking up the gifts of the Holy Spirit that I believe ties into this topic perfectly. I want to specifically look at Romans 12:6 where we are told to use our gifts with diligence. The gifts spelled out here are: prophesying, serving others, teaching, encouraging others, giving, leadership, and showing mercy.
The body of Christ needs all these giftings to work together properly as one. It’s so sad to see the body of Christ separated by theology and differences of opinion. Imagine how great and effective we could be if we were united into one body as Romans 12 talks about!
Aside from that, there is only one you who can fulfill your God-given purpose on earth with the short time you have. As we’ve discussed in “it’s time to rise up”, who you are and what you do is of great significance, more than you realize. Don’t let fear, lack of resources, or anything hold you back from stepping into your calling from the Lord.
It doesn’t matter if we’re scrubbing toilets or meeting with world leaders, we can glorify the Lord with everything we say and do. The Lord gave us specific talents and brings about things to happen for a specific purpose. If we don’t listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit even with the little things, we will miss out on our purpose and being able to be a blessing to others.
The Bottom Line
The Lord wants us to be wise with all He’s given us- our time, resources, and talents. If we don’t we will miss out on our God-given mission here in our brief time here on earth but miss out on blessings for us and others.
We’re living for the future, not for the here and now. It’s imperative that we listen and obey the Holy Spirit. From what we learn from the Word and from what is put on our hearts that lines up with scripture to do with the time we have left here on earth. I can’t emphasize this enough.
I’ve missed out on obeying the Holy Spirit’s promptings a few times and I still regret it to this day. Who knows the impact I would’ve had on others if I had listened. I don’t want that for you and I don’t want to miss out on anything else to fulfill my mission on earth. We can’t dwell on the past and beat ourselves up but we can move forward and make sure that we listen and obey the Lord and what He has called us to do.
A Prayer For You
Lord Jesus, thank You so much for all of our giftings and talents. Please forgive us for the times when we haven’t used our time, talents, and resources wisely. Help us not dwell on regrets about what we should’ve done but instead show us how to be good stewards and move forward boldly in accomplishing our purpose here on earth. Help us to be a blessing to others and listen to the Holy Spirit’s promptings carefully and obey. We love You Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
I’m excited because next week I’ll have my first interview on my podcast with my handsome hubby, EagleGarrett. We have something dicey to discuss that affects all of us and EagleGarrett is a pro in this area. So we look forward to hanging out with you then!
Stay hopeful!
