“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”
Romans 12:5 (NKJV)
The world desperately needs people to stand up for and support what is right and good, but often, we turn a deaf ear or a blind eye to the injustices and cruelties around us.
Friends, it is important that we live not just to please ourselves. We need others just as much as they need us. Our lives are not our own; otherwise, we would be able to determine what happens to us, including how long we live. On the day of reckoning, we will have to give an account of how we stewarded the years we spent on the earth and the gifts and talents that were given to us by God.
It is no secret that over the years, members and friends of our fellowship benefited from much teaching and examples on good stewardship and a call to promote caring relationships among fellow believers and strangers alike. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, states, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10 – NIV).
From the very beginning, God blessed His creation and said, “Be fruitful..multiply/replenish…” (Genesis 1:28). Thus, we are encouraged to:
- Bear fruit (i.e., do good, encourage and support, speak up for what is right, defend the defenseless).
- Multiply (i.e., increase our output of goods and services to others)
- Replenish (i.e., restore to ensure continuity).
The psalmist David, after he became king, was so overwhelmed with gratitude that he encouraged the people to give back to God. He made an example of giving from his personal store to build the temple. He praised God and said, “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own have we given You”(1 Chronicles 29:14). He further asked God to ‘keep this generous spirit alive forever in the hearts of the people, and keep their hearts firmly set’ on God (verse 19). What an example of stewardship!
David understood that man owns nothing and that what we have never belonged to us despite how hard we worked for it. Therefore, we must give willingly and cheerfully where there is need, for “if we sow sparingly, we will reap sparingly…”(2 Corinthians 9:6-7). We must determine what and how much we will do for the Kingdom of God, for God rewards what we do from the heart.
Read: Proverbs 11:24-25; Acts 20:35
Bible Reading Guide: Proverbs 24:23-34; 1 Thessalonians 4; Jeremiah 23:9-40; Jeremiah 24; Jeremiah 25:1-14
