Stewardship

"The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord." – Psalm 24:1

We have many many possessions. We think we possess them. However, everything in the world belongs to God, and we are only stewards of them. We come into this world as we leave this world, with nothing except ourselves. We cannot change our eternal lives by storing up possessions. In reality, the more we have, the more we are possessed by our possessions.

As we come into the season of our Stewardship campaign, it is good to reflect on how much God has given us and how much of what we have is a gift. In the Jewish tradition, the understanding of what we give back to God is very clearly spelled out. We are to give God, through the Temple, the first tenth of all our harvest, our income, and our gifts. Yet, when Jesus comes and teaches the people, he doesn't specify how much or what percentage we are to give. He teaches that we should share out of a thankful heart. For those of us who are stable in many ways, this can be an easy thing to do. However, for some of us the struggle is real in figuring out how to give in thanksgiving, while still making sure all the bills are covered. Thankfully, we are a community and there are many ways of giving and sharing.

I hope you will take the time to think and pray about your giving this year. Being a good steward requires intentionality as well as action. What do you have to be thankful for and how can you share that gratitude with others?