Good Stewardship is critical to a healthy christian life and church community. How we care for the things that God has given us impacts our personal relationship with him, each other, and our community. So a question that we should ourselves is what makes a good steward? Thankfully 1 Peter 4:10-11 gives us an answer to this.
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”-1 Peter 4:10-11 ESV
Oftentimes when we think of stewardship we immediately think of financial stewardship. These verses make clear that we are to be stewards of all of the graces that God has given to us. This stewardship includes graces that are both material (Genesis 1:28) and spiritual (1 Corinthians 4:1). Below are 3 ways to do this well based on 1 Peter 4:10-11.
Being a good stewards means we serve with the resources that God has provided to us. “Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies.” We should trust in the tools and resources that God has given us. When we speak we speak with Gods words when we show strength we show the strength that God has provided. When times are hard we are tempted to go to things that God has not provided for us. We are tempted to abandon Gods word or teach things that may suit our needs instead of the needs ofthers. We may be less likely to correct because we don’t want to offend or threaten a friendship. We should look to serve others and serve them the way Christ would serve them.
Being a good Steward means to be faithful in both times of abundance and times of lack. These verse make clear that the graces that God has given to us are for one another and not for ourselves. Our gifts, talents, and resources are for each other. The temptation to serve ourselves is present in both times of plenty and times of lack. When we lack, we can be protective of what we have and think ‘if I only had more’ I would give more time, or money or knowledge to others. Scripture tells us thats not the case. As Ecclesiastes 5:10 teaches us the lover of silver will not be satisfied with silver nor will the lovers of abundance with increase. God’s command to be other focused stands when we have abundance and when we lack. We see this clearly in 2nd Corinthians 8:2 where the church in Macedonia gives even in times of persecution and poverty. So being a good steward means we are faithful in all seasons of life.
Being a good steward means to show the character of Christ. To Christ belongs glory and dominion for ever and ever. We receive the graces from God, use them in the way that he instructs us for the purposes of returning to him the glory and praise that is due to his name. So Christ is both the beginning of our stewardship since he supplies our needs and the end of our stewardship since we use his resources to show who he is. All things are for him and through him and to him be glory forever (Romans 11:36). We can only show Christ if we have received Christ. He has shed his blood for us so that he could redeem us from our sin and empower us to show who he is to others.So being a good steward means we use all of the graces of god that he has given us, both financial and spiritual, to serve each other for his eternal glory.
