A guest post By: Bruce Nevin Haines
All we have is a gift from God. Our bodies, talents, mind, resources, relationships, they’re all gifts from God. The Bible tells us:
“Every good thing given, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17)
A Steward is defined as a manager, an overseer, or a guardian. Anything good we have in our lives is a gift from God, and as such, it is something we much treat with gratitude and care. Everything is a resource that we are to manage and treat with honor. Take our bodies for example, God’s Word calls our bodies temples of the Holy Spirit.
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body.”
(1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Our desire to honor God with our bodies should come from a place of Gratitude for the gift of Salvation bought for us. We offer our bodies back to God in joy and thanksgiving as an act of Worship. (Romans 12:1-2) Our bodies are the vessel through which we have opportunity to serve God. Stewardship involves every facet of who we are. We need to try to take care of ourselves in such away, as to be good stewards of these gifts we have been given.
If I need medicine for any reason, I should take it. We are stewards of our minds and emotions as well. Where there is stress, depression, anxiety, anger; I need to choose to handle myself in a way that honors God. God promises me that:
“No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Therefore, I can trust God to strengthen me and provide the resources I need to respond in a godly manner to any temptation or situation I face. It’s His promise, and He is a promise-keeping God. I cry out to Him from my place of need, in any area, and He gives me strength. Maybe not deliverance, but the ability to walk through it, to manage my emotions, my mind and my body in a manner pleasing to God.
Stewardship also involves the wisdom to create boundaries with people who are consistently a problem for us. We need to love them in Christ, but sometimes it’s wise to keep our distance as well. We are stewards of our relationships. These, too, are gifts from God, but life can bring us unsafe people and we need to relate to them wisely and carefully. We truly can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, strength in the moment of need. (Philippians 4:13, Hebrews 4:16)
Take heart, Dear Believer, we are all still learning to be good stewards of ourselves. Have a Blessed Day.
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