Being A Good Steward

Matthew 25:14:30 A steward is defined as a person put in charge of a large estate, an administration or of finances and property

A steward is defined as a person put in charge of a large estate; an administration or of finances and property. Often this passage of scripture is used in teaching Christians to be good stewards of finances and material things that God has given them However, I believe the principles described here go beyond material things to include spiritual gifts that God has given the body of Christ. These spiritual gifts have been given by God for the edification and perfecting of the body of Christ and for the accomplishment of God's purpose in the world for His Being A Good Steward

Often this passage of scripture is used in teaching Christians to be good stewards of finances and material things that God has given them However, I believe the principles described here go beyond material things to include spiritual gifts that God has given the body of Christ These spiritual gifts have been given by God for the edification and perfecting of the body of Christ and for the accomplishment of God's purpose in tile world for His glory. These gifts have been given to each believer "according, to His own ability, Matthew 25:15 They are discussed in detail in Romans 12:3-8, (1 Corinthians 2:1-3) (1 Ephesians 4:11-12) and (1 Peter 4:10-11) However. I believe it is safe to say that mush of the ability, talent and spiritual gifts that God has given the body of Christ have been buried and God receives no glory' When the scriptures clearly state that these gifts were "..given to each one for the profit of all, " (1 Corinthians 12:7)

PROCRASTINATION

Its very obvious that procrastination has played a big part in burying many of the abilities, talents and spiritual gifts in the body of Christ Procrastination is defined as putting off doing (something) until later; delay The procrastinators motto is: "Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow." The law of cause and effect is ever operative and for those who procrastinate the price is heavy. The price paid would include:

I. Living with chronic anxiety (worry)

2. Usually feeling fatigued (tired).

3. Undone tasks nag at them. For example" I know I should be doing this. But I'll get it done later" etc.

4. Procrastination cost time and energy.

5. Procrastination fosters negativism. Self-doubt and self-delusion

6. It is a destructive behaviour (death)

7. Just to mention a few'

FEAR

The servant in (Matthew 25:25) said, "And I was afraid." Fear plays a big part in the procrastinator's life. He does not crastinators to deliberately feel bad but to temporarily relieve inner fears. As we examine some of the signs of a procrastinator, we can see that fear shows up frequently. As a side note, remember that faith is God and fear is the devil.

I. Fear of failure. "I'm afraid I'll fail so I'll do it sometime in the future I'm not ready yet"

2 Fear of imperfection. "I want to do this exceptionally well. but I'm afraid it won't be perfect. So, if I put it off until the last minute. Then I can justify rushed, incomplete work. I can use the excuse that this is the best that can be done in so little time"

3. Fear of inferiority. I want to be the best, to be better than the rest, but I am afraid I'm not good enough. So, if I never do anything, than I can criticise others who are trying, I can tell myself (and everyone else) that if I were to do such and such. I would do it much better"

4. Avoiding difficult work situations. Hoping that they will change if you wait long enough.

5 Putting off routine daily tasks such as prayer. Devotions, study, house cleaning, organising your desk, etc.

6 Fear of change such as moving to another state or changing jobs.

7 Frequently getting sick or having minor accidents when faced with a difficult or unpleasant task.

8 Avoiding confrontation with others even when you have a legitimate grievance or a just cause.

9. Blaming outside forces, or people for your lack of success and happiness.

10. Using negativism and criticism to get out of doing something!

I 1 Planning but never putting into action the vision God has given for your life.

SELF-CONTROL

God's answer to procrastination is self-control. Galatians 5:22-23. Says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love. joy, peace long suffering, gentleness, goodness. faith. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." The word temperance means self-restraint in conduct. indulgence of the appetites. Etc. Restraint means control of emotions, impulses etc. Which brings up the thought of discipline, which means to train? To control Self-central, strict control to enforce obedience. In the Christian's case, to enforce obedience to God's Word (James 2:6)

The: New King James and other translations, use the word "self-control" instead of "temperance", in Galatians 5:23. So we can readily see that walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) or one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-discipline or self-control which I would be the opposite of procrastination The true meaning of self-control is often misunderstood. Many people interpret it as self-denial or self-restriction. But as it relates to good stewardship, it is synonymous with self-determination or making a "quality decision" Self control (discipline) is perseverance in action To be a good steward (a successful Christian) doesn't just happen by "luck" or "accident'. It is a decision with Gods help to develop one of the fruits of the Spirit called temperance or- self-control. No man or woman has ever achieved anything of value without self-control, which certainly involves an element of hard work and change on our part.

GOOD SIGNS

Some signs of one in self-control would be:

1. Holding your ground when you'd rather run away. (James 4:7)

2. Counting to ten when you'd rather lash out (Ephesians 4:26-27)

3. Keeping a smile on your face when you'd rather cave in. Acts 27:25 Paul said in the midst of the storm, "Be of good cheer."

4. Working hard when you'd rather give up. Being diligent. (Hebrews 11:6)

5. Holding fast to year- confession without wavering when you're just plain tired of confessing and seeing no apparent results (Hebrews.10:23)

6. Praying when you do not feel like it. (2 Corinthians 5:7), (Romans 1:7)

7. Reading, studying and meditating on (God's Word when you don't feel like it (Joshua 1:8 ).

WARNING

Its time to begin to rid ourselves of bad habits to include procrastination. However, the trouble is most of us spend our time practicing or exercising our bad habits rather than our good habits. We are relentless in our expertise at becoming accomplished losers or failures by procrastinating. Just as cigarette packages carry warning labels, so should procrastination carry a warning label it could read like this? "WARNING -- procrastination is habit forming and may be dangerous to your spiritual, mental and physical health!"

REDEEM THE TIME

Ephesians 5:16 says, redeeming the time because the days are evil " To redeem means to get, or buy back. to recover, to restore. Now is the time to recover those buried abilities, talents and spiritual gifts for God's glory. Time might be called an Equal Opportunity Employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes each day. Think about it. Rich people cannot buy more hours; Scientists can't invent new minutes. You can't save time to spend it on another day. You can waste time though. Most people spend hours every day whiling away precious time. How often have you said, "Where did the day go" I accomplished nothing today", etc. Watching television is one of the chief wastes of time. The average American spends 28 hours each week in front of the television set. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving No matter how much time you have wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow. The only way to "redeem the time" is to exercise "self-control' and use time wisely.

HELPFUL HINTS

You'll be a good steward of what God has given you it:

1. You repent and quit procrastinating.

2. Stop worrying about what people think.

3. Stop imagining how everything could go wrong

4. Stop fretting or grieving over past failures.

5. Use checklists and establish priorities in doing things that need to be done

6. When possible do hard things first.

7. Remember everybody has occasional setbacks and frustrations. (1 Corinthians 11:23:33.)

8. Don't forget the greater One who lives in us (1 John 4:1) and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Phil 4:13)

CONCLIUSION

Each one of us has been given abilities, talents and spiritual gifts with great potential and possibilities for- the profit of all! Let's be good stewards to the glory of God!

By Jim Kaseman