Stewardship 104
A good and faithful steward lives an examined life. II Corinthians 13:5, Paul tells the believers in Corinth, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves…” Paul also says in I Corinthians 11:28 that, “A man ought to examine himself before he eats the bread and drinks the cup (Communion).” Even Jeremiah says in Lamentations 3:40, “Let us test and examine our ways.”
A steward will continually examine his behavior, his motives, his thoughts, his attitudes, the direction of his life and how well he is imitating the life of Jesus. Unfortunately, we usually only examine our lives when something is going wrong. The good and faithful servant is observant and constantly tries to keep his/her life on track. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”.
A good and faithful steward lives a controlled life. Self-control is one of the fruits of the spirit. (Galatians 5:23) We all know people who cannot control their temper, their appetites, their emotions, their tongues, their sex drives, their spending and the list goes on and on. The good and faithful servant is constantly attempting to control themselves.
A good and faithful servant lives a sacrificial life. We cannot be a good and faithful servant if sacrifice is not a part of our lives. Paul calls us to be “living sacrifices.” (Romans 12:1) Jesus challenges every steward that wants to follow Him to “deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) Each day we are to put to death our wishes, our desires, our comforts, our free time for the greater good of the Kingdom. There is no more powerful demonstration of a good and faithful steward than when we willingly and sacrificially give to others without any consideration of their worthiness to receive this gift. I John 3:16 says, “By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
If we want to be identified as a good and faithful servant and someday hear those wonderful words, “Well done,” we must (1) routinely examine ourselves – (2) be vigilant that we control our impulses, and (3) be regularly and generously sacrificing what we have been entrusted with and bring a little bit of heaven to those here on earth.
Are you up for the challenge to be a good and faithful steward?