STEWARDSHIP-GENERAL
Stewardship
is what I do after I say I believe.
Author
Unknown
Sins such as
envy, jealousy, covetousness, and greed very markedly reveal a focus on self.
Instead you are to please God and bless others by practicing biblical
stewardship which is to care for and give of the physical and spiritual
resources that God has provided for you.
Self-Confrontation Manuel, Lesson 10, Page 4,
Used by Permission of the Biblical Counseling Foundation.
The world
asks, “What does a man own?” Christ asks, “How does he use it?”
Andrew Murray
Money II, Christian History, Issue 19.
All
Christians are but God's stewards. Everything we have is on loan from the Lord,
entrusted to us for a while to use in serving Him.
John MacArthur
1 Corinthians, Moody, 1984, p. 108.
Five pitfalls
to faithful stewardship:
1.
Laziness
– failing to invest our talents.
2.
Lack
of faithfulness in what we consider small responsibilities.
3.
Thinking
that we ourselves are the source of our gifts and abilities.
4.
Sowing
to the flesh – doing things that serve and please ourselves.
5.
Striving
for earthly treasures – focusing on the present instead of eternity in heaven.
Karl Graustein
Growing Up Christian, P&R, 2005, p. 224. Used by Permission.
I have held
many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed
in God’s hands, that I still possess
Martin Luther
Anything
whereby we may glorify God is a talent. Our gifts, our influence, our money,
our knowledge, our health, our strength, our time, our senses, our reason, our
intellect, our memory, our affections, our privileges as members of Christ’s
Church, our advantages as possessors of the Bible – all, all are talents.
Whence came these things? What hand bestowed them? Why
are we what we are? Why are we not the worms that crawl on the earth? There is
only one answer to these questions. All that we have is a loan from God. We are
God’s stewards. We are God’s debtors. Let this thought sink deeply into our
hearts.
J.C.
Ryle
Commentary, Matthew 25.