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Basic Principles Of Biblical Stewardship - Part 1 |
By:
Zigfred Diaz |
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Basic Principles Of Biblical Stewardship - Part 1
Zigfred Diaz
Parables are said to be earthly stories with heavenly meaning. Every time Jesus Christ speaks in parables he is trying to convey a lesson to all of us.
Christ teaches us about the principle of stewardship through His parable of the talents as written in Mathew 25:14-27. The importance of Stewardship is emphasized by the fact that except for the Kingdom of God, Christ talked more about stewardship than any other topic.
A steward is a person who manages and administrates what has been entrusted to him by another. As Christians and as human beings we are stewards as we are to manage what has been entrusted to us by God. In Genesis 1:28, when God first created man he gave him instructions that he should "have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." The New Testament is replete with verses reminding us that we are stewards of God's resources.
So what are the things that we should be stewards of ? We are to be stewards of our time, money, our abilities and our life. In the parable of the talents, the principles of stewardship that we can learn from Christ is as follows:
1.) PRINCIPLE OF OWNERSHIP - The goods entrusted and committed to the servants belonged to the Master (verse 14)
In the same way we should realize that all that we have is not ours it is the Lord's and that we are only entrusted with it. Having this mindset is one of the most important principles of stewardship because only then if we think this way that we will be more responsible as stewards.
2.) THE PRINCIPLE OF ABILITY & DISCRETION - Verse 15 tells us that the each servant received a certain amount of good depending on his ability. It also indicates that it is also based on the Master's discretion.
God has given us different abilities, gifts, economic status in life and other blessings. It is no accident that we are where we are right now. God surely has a purpose for all of us. Whatever God gives us depends on His discretion and our ability. Even if we think we have the ability, we cannot question God if He gives other more wealth or more abilities than us because it depends solely on His discretion. Our job is to develop our abilities and to make the best out of our lives.
3.) PRINCIPLE OF FREEDOM - Each servant was given full freedom on what to do with the goods turned over to him (verses 16-18)
God did not make us robots. We were given freedom of choice by Him. As human beings God gave us a certain level of freedom as to how we are to fulfill His purpose for us. So, in order to make the best out of our lives, our actions must governed by His instructions and that we must only act within the boundaries of his plan and instructions.
This concludes part 1 of this 2 part series. Please visit my blog if you want to view the entire article.
Would you like to read more articles about http://www.zdiaz.com/ practical christian living ? Visit the blog of Zigfred Diaz he is passionate christian that wishes to apply his faith in day to day living. He blogs about a wide variety of topics. Visit his blog today.
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article66999.html |
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