Devotion: Stewardship
Stewardship
Please take the time to read 2 Corinthians 9:6-12
When I pray in an official way – the kind where I attempt to cross my hands, close my eyes and still my mind rather than ask God questions and tell him stories he already knows, but I want to make sure he hears from my perspective, as I race through my day or drive across town and closing my eyes seems like a bad idea – I always start out saying Good, Gracious and Generous Godโฆ because Godโs cheerful generosity is everywhere. Literally everywhere. Try not to see it. Try not to feel it. I dare you.
But what does God see when he looks at us through the lens of generosity? Say how he sees you out loud. Iโll go first. If God is bright, all-encompassing sunlight whose cheerful generosity knows no bounds, I feel like he must see me as a flashlight with a weak battery flickering on/off. I can be generous with my time, talent and treasures โ usually on my terms. If Iโm honest with myself, and now you, I give what I want, to whom I want, when I want โ and think God is generally happy with my efforts. There are times I consult God, but I donโt necessarily listen for the answers. And as for cheerfulnessโฆsometimes, but isnโt it enough not to be cranky? Saying that out loud makes me think that God must be giving me the look of โReally? I know thatโs not the best you can do. I made you to do better and Iโm going to give you another opportunity to do so. Now go do better!โ
When I first read this passage, I thought the principle associated with it was going to be generosity. I mean, generosity seems like a top ten principle to try to live by, right? Giving โ with intentional cheerfulness โ would change us and change the world.
And then I saw the principle was stewardship and it caused me to pauseโฆand reread the textโฆand stop. โGivingโ and โtaking care ofโ are different, but itโs hard to do one well without being good at the other.
As Pastor Greg pointed out in his sermon, itโs hard to be generous if you havenโt been a good steward of all that God has given. And being a good steward of all that God has given us requires cheerful and intentional sharing with others. Gosh, when did the line between stewardship and generosity become so blurry? Oh yeah, when God created us in His likeness.
Every day God calls on us to take care of all that he has given us and asks that we pay it forward with a โproper disposition and non-reluctant attitudeโ. We can do this! Let intentional stewardship and joyous generosity be the work that changes the world. And let it begin with you and me!
*Good, Gracious and Generous God,
We see and feel your cheerful generosity all around us but fail to take care of it. Quite frankly, we often donโt even think of the decisions we make throughout the day as being related to stewarding what you have given us, resulting in limits on our hilaros (แผฑฮปฮฑฯฯฯ) generosity to those we love most and your children we may never meet. Help us to look at our lives through your lens, as well as the lens of someone whose perspective would broaden our own. And as always, thank you for the grace, space and opportunity to do better. In your name, we pray.
Amen
*Words and sentiments taken from Pastor Gregโs sermon
Written by Dacia Kruse
Dacia lives in Lincoln and is getting married in October! She is a lobbyist and mediator through The Mediation Center where she primarily works with parents who are separating and trying to figure out how to co-parent their kids.
She has been a member of Sheridan since the late 1990โs. She regularly attends Lunch Table Theology and serves on a Saturday evening hospitality team, the Sunday morning Welcome Center team and as a Wedding Coordinator. In her free time, she likes to read, travel, shop and decorate her house.