Personal Stewardship

God is bringing us back to the basics of our responsibilities. He is showing us how to steward well what He considers the most important things in our lives. First, He has given us authority over our bodies, and second, responsibility over our relationships, which includes those with our spouses, our children and God.

The parable of the talents, in Matthew 25:14-30, illustrates the results of stewarding well or poorly. The master entrusted three servants with talents. Two servants invested their talents and doubled their amount while the third buried his talent and produced the same amount. The third was thrown out by the master and his talent given to the one who had the greatest increase. Like the wise servant, it is time for us to start taking personal responsibility for everything God has entrusted us.

Responsibility Over Our Body: Our body is the first gift we received from God. If we steward our bodies by exercising, eating and resting properly, our quality of life will improve and we will be stronger, capable of accomplishing more tasks and living longer to enjoy future generations. When we do not steward our bodies well, our health will suffer. If we just bury our body in unhealthy behaviors, our risk of disease will increase and our life expectancy and quality of life will decrease. Let’s honor God with our bodies as we invest in our health. This will allow us to give more from our gain.

Responsibility Over Our Relationships: Marriage is one of the most precious gifts that God has given us and a relationship that we must steward. It takes two to make a marriage work, and when one does not put forth effort, the marriage will fail.  A married couple must continually invest in the marriage by spending time with one another, reaching out to the other in love, participating in marriage seminars or counseling, opening up and listening to one another’s needs, etc. When true love is cultivated, the result will be joy and peace while in each other’s presence and fulfilled intimacy. What we cultivate in our marriage increases and multiplies. As in a marriage relationship, let’s invest in all our relationships. As we learn from the experience, we will be able to give more abundantly.

Responsibility Over Our Priorities: The parable of the talents applies to many areas—work, home, ministry, possessions, parenting, finances and of course talents. But we must tithe our time, energy and affection to God. Making God our priority includes the responsibility of our testimony about God and sharing the good news. As with the first fruits of our tithe, when we prioritize our relationship with God, He will be faithful to multiply what we offer and the rest will fall into place. When we neglect God as our first priority, we will constantly be running on empty in every area of our lives. Let’s invest in ourselves and our relationships, but above all, in our relationship with God.

By Oswaldo Hernandez, Stewardship Director