Who get's slighted in this scenario? God. It is to take a gift that we are to be stewards over and make ourselves the owner of it instead. This is the ultimate perversion of a gift. Romans 1:18-25 says that a big part of what’s wrong with the world is that instead of honoring God and giving him thanks, we worship and serve the creation. Instead of seeing God's good gifts as from God and for his glory we often make them about us and for our glory.
#Be a good steward verse how to
Next, we’ll explore how to apply stewardship to our relationship with ourselves.2) Sin corrupts God's good gifts by making them about us. Understanding our relationship with others is also integrally tied to our relationship with ourselves. This list is not exhaustive in explaining how to love. Pray for the Lord’s grace, wisdom, and courage to love bravely and boldly and in a way that glorifies him. What would it look like to love those we don’t like?Ĥ. Christ loved when it was hard, inconvenient, and unpopular. Pursue Jesus to Pursue Others: Follow the example of Christ. What are your gifts and how can you use them to serve and love others well? Perhaps this means using your gift of hospitality to open your home, or your gift of teaching to get involved in a ministry at your church.ģ. Loving others well means being aware of what you have to give. Know Yourself: You cannot give what you don’t have. We cannot maximize our love for others if we don’t make an initial investment.Ģ. Make the time and spend the energy to get to know the people you do life with – neighbors, coworkers, family, friends. Invest: Responsible investment requires knowledge. To maximize love in stewarding your relationships, consider these points:ġ. Ultimately, loving others is born out God’s love for us (1 John 4). There’s a lot to say, even debate, about what it means to love. Scattered throughout the Bible are hundreds of verses encouraging and exhorting us to love and love well (1 Corinthians 13, 1 John 4, Col 3:14, 1 Peter 4:8, Romans 13:8-10, Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18 to name a few). Practicing Stewardship, Maximizing God’s Love We are called into the messiness of living life with other sinners and in doing so, shining the light of Christ to the glory of God. Relationships are a good but broken aspect of God’s creation. We know God is making all things new, redeeming broken relationships and one day wiping away every tear and hurt and pain. Revelation 21 paints a picture of the new heaven and new earth, when God will dwell with man. Rather, we share our faith and ourselves with them in order to love them.Ĥ. We don’t love people in order to share our faith with them. As Christians, loving others well should propel us to share our faith with them. Our relationships are a way of proclaiming the gospel and God’s glory. In living life with others, we are called to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). God’s people are a vehicle for him to teach and grow us.ģ.
I will make him a helper fit for him.” Relationship was created before the Fall and existed untouched by sin. In Genesis 2:18 God says, “It is not good that man should be alone. God created Adam and Eve to be together in communion, to serve one another.
We cannot be true to who God intended us to be while living in isolation (Genesis 1:26-27).Ģ. The Trinity, one God as three distinct persons, models for us unity and relationship. We are distinct persons with equal, eternal value. Made in God’s image, we are created for relationship. God ultimately owns everything (Psalm 24), so to understand relationships and our role in them, we must first examine God’s purpose. Ownership is a key principle of biblical stewardship. We want to cultivate our love for others, staying true to our original job description to cultivate the earth and all that is in it. In applying stewardship to relationships, we should seek to invest, grow, and maximize love. The currency of relationships, as Christ tells us, is love. What does it mean to steward relationships with others? “Steward” can often elicit ideas of profit maximization and what’s in it for me?īiblically, to “steward” means to apply our God-given resources to the best of our ability, for his purpose, and to his glory. God models relationship for us in the Trinity – being completely who he is only while in communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
It’s at the center of the universe, really, and always has been. Relationship is at the center of exchange. They’re messy and complicated and painful, yet we can’t flourish without them.
0 kommentar(er)
