Stewardship of Material Things

Having material possessions is not that bad at all, in fact, it can give temporary happiness and satisfaction to every one of us for it can be considered as our inner riches. Nevertheless, do you know that the things we possess is not really ours in the first place? What if I told you, those things you possess right now that was given to you is tantamount to a responsibility in which you held accountable to the One who really own it? By that means, can you say that you are using and managing it wisely?

To begin with let me define to you first, what is stewardship?

According to Oxford dictionary, it was defined as the act of supervising, managing, or taking care of something such as an organization or property. So, when we say "supervising", that means someone is giving you the job and giving you the responsibility to be in charge or oversee that certain thing. On the other hand biblically speaking, it is a theological belief that humans are responsible for the world, therefore, we should take care and look after it. Of course, this belief would solely apply to those who believe in one God who created the universe and that they got this so called purpose to take care of the creation and look after it.

So in this context, I have to compliment those two definitions since we will be coordinating here the idea of secular and theological. As God's stewards, we are kind of managers of the things He created as all of the things here are His. In such case, we need to be an effective steward. Even managers in the corporate world, have to be efficient in handling their role in order to do their jobs properly. But in reality, sometimes things will get out of hand. Our management to our inner riches would sometimes fail to be handled effectively. How can I say that it tends to fail?

Well, one of the common material thing that everyone need to live, in which however, if used excessively, can make a man selfish, greedy, insatiable, insecure, impatient and most importantly will forget God because all his life, he centered it to that thing and made that thing his happiness, or worst, his master. And this thing that I mentioned, is no other than money. Money is one of the inner riches here in the world that circulates almost anything in the aspect of life. It revolves around the globe and many transactions takes place through it.

We work hard to earn money, we establish business to earn money, we pursue a degree to get nicer job in order gain higher income, in short, we do everything just to acquire money. That is because some people want to buy their favorite clothes, shoes, nice house, cool cars, eat in luxurious restaurant and merely to enjoy their lives. There are also people who need to sustain the needs of their family, to overcome poverty, to pay their debts and merely to live. It is not actually a bad thing to want and need all of those, what is worse is loving all of those material things here in the world, more importantly money.

According to the scripture (1 Timothy 6:10), "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." You see if you love a person, you will risk anything to not lose him. If you love a person, he will be your happiness. Happiness and satisfaction is addictive, loving too much is literally obsession. The same thing with loving money and other material things here in the world, don't let those things control you and be the master instead of becoming the slave. Take note that these things do not belong to you, accordingly (Haggai 2:8), "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts." He entrusted those things to us, and if we mismanaged it, there can be possibilities that He will no longer let you have it.

How to be an effective steward?

There are things that you must manifest to be an effective steward to the things that God entrusted us. And these are:

1. Knowledge

It is important to have knowledge in doing your responsibility as a steward. For example, if the CEO of a company hires his managers, qualifications would definitely include skills and experiences of managing an organization. Knowing what you are doing is of the utmost importance.

2. Wisdom

Wisdom is indeed distinguishable from knowledge. If you are given the responsibility either small or big, you need to make a good judgement and sound decisions upon handling situations and circumstances. This is where the application of knowledge and experiences take place. Doing so is a hard job as well, that's why we have to ask God for it. Remember, this is what Solomon ask for to Him, and he became a great king.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Proverbs 1:7)

4. Commitment

In the same way when you got the profession of a doctor, you must be committed or dedicated to your duty to mend your patients. You must put in mind that you will be accountable for what is being entrusted to you. Good stewardship comes from the heart of a passionate steward.

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21)

5. Sacrifice

As a steward of God's creation, there are lots of things that we have to sacrifice. But mostly, you have to sacrifice yourself for that responsibility that was given to you. In connection, you can not sacrifice if you are not committed as well. A good steward is selfless.

"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." (Matthew 10:39)

In a nutshell, wordly pleasures and happiness in material things are ephemeral. That is why, invest your funds and other material possessions wisely to the things that will give you a meaningful life. Don't hesitate to help others without expecting a return, and give back to God since this is also our responsibility as His steward, as it is written (Malachi 3:10), "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." At the end of the day, our breath might break off and our bodies might get back to dust. Hence, be a fruitful steward, love God more than the things here in the world and you will leave a life that's been lived.

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Those are the things that I learned from the lectures during our Family Fellowship last Saturday. There are other wonderful topics taught to us that entails stewardship, such as Stewardship of Life discussed by @jstjylrd_and Stewardship of Spiritual Things tackled by @lonestranger.Thank you for reading, don't forget to subscribe and I do subscribe back.

Lead image:

https://mbcpathway.com/2018/07/25/christian-stewardship-count-your-blessings/