The Ministry of Stewardship

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophesy, in proportion of our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:6-8).  
 
 Take a look around you. Look at the people in your life. Whether it’s your husband, wife, kids, coworker, best friend, or someone whom you haven’t had time to build a relationship with—they aren’t there by accident.  

In our last devotion, we talked about how we are not meant to be lone rangers. We are meant to live in community, and we must admit that we can’t walk this life alone. We need to get into family. Now it’s time to evaluate how we steward this family.

Community is never just about “what they can do for me,” but also about “what I can do for them.” If we all lived with the mentality that our people—our spiritual family—is only there to help me, then there would be no value in it. We’d all just be living for ourselves.  

Our ministry is stewarding the people around us. We rally together to help each other succeed. Have you ever noticed that those who give and give and give seem to be the happiest people and those who take and take and take are the opposite? Selfishness leads to loneliness; whereas selflessness leads to abundance.  

People are not just in your life to help you succeed; you’re in their life to help them succeed. Your spouse, your kids, your friends—they are yours to steward. They’ve been placed in your life for you to care for. Our people, to a certain extent, are our responsibility. Once we do all we can do to help them grow, it is their job to walk in obedience and follow God’s direction, but we are the helpers, the teachers, the encouragers, and the leaders put in place to help them excel.  

We shouldn’t have the mindset of “you better come help me succeed,” but rather we should have the mindset of “I’ll do everything to ensure you don’t fail.” When we take the focus off us and put it on those around us, there is always someone being helped, encouraged, and guarded because no one is thinking only of themselves. We are all thinking of who’s next to us.  

Be there to help others realize their gifts and how to use them. Don’t just wait for someone to help you—reach out your hand and pick up those around you. Be relentless in your love for others. Watch their back instead of your own and raise your family and your community to follow your example and put others first. When everyone has a caretaker, everyone gets taken care of, and everyone’s ministry is fulfilled.