My parents are pretty wonderful people. I have an amazing relationship with both of them that I am incredibly grateful for, and my heart breaks to think that there are people who aren't as close with their parents as I am.
Most of my friends love my parents, but they don't always know very much about them. My parents are very hospitable, kind, loving people, but they're also both introverts. In fact, I am the only extrovert in my family (and the only one who didn't major in something math/science related...talk about a black sheep). To this tune, a lot of people are surprised to find out some of the things my parents do.
For as long as I can remember, my parents have been very intentional about money. I've written about it some in my Financial Friday posts, and my knowledge of budgeting and view on money management has been significantly influenced by my parents actions. They've been financial counselors for couples and individuals on and off through the years, as time and circumstances have allowed, and they taught all of us kids from the moment we started making money how to budget it well.
A word that comes up a lot when talking about money, particularly in the Christian culture, is stewardship.
There are a few different definitions of a "steward," to include "one employed in a large household or estate to manage domestic concerns (as the supervision of servants, collection of rents, and keeping of accounts)" as well as "one appointed to supervise the provision and distribution of food and drink in an institution."
When you look at the definition of "stewardship," you see that to have stewardship over something is to conduct, supervise, or manage it.
Jesus talks about stewardship at various times throughout the Gospels, and he emphasized the importance of good stewardship. He told parables and stories about prepared stewards and unrighteous stewards. Paul explains how we as Christians are stewards "of the mysteries of God" and emphasizes the importance of a steward being trustworthy. Peter calls us stewards "of the manifold grace of God."
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I've been thinking a lot about stewardship recently, and not just in a financial sense. Obviously, it makes sense to be a good steward of your money, but hinging on my recent convictions to not waste my singleness, I've been considering how stewardship applies to every area of my life, not just how and where I spend my money.
Everyone is a steward, whether they realize it or not. The question is, are you a good steward?
A good steward is someone who recognizes the value of the things over which they have authority and uses their wisdom, judgment, and discernment to use those gifts in the best way possible.
To this tune, you could be a very good steward with your money, but a very poor steward in many other ares of your life. But Jesus doesn't just call us to be good stewards with our finances. He calls us to be stewards in every area of our life from what we eat to how we spend our time.
In addition to money, as I've been mulling over these thoughts, there are a couple of key parts of my life where the Lord has convicted me about my lack of good stewardship: time, productivity, and health.
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When it comes to time, it's really easy for me to epic fail at being a good steward with my time and managing it well.
I'm someone who likes to be busy. I think that's fairly evident, but in my busyness I still sometimes neglect to objectively assess whether or not I'm being a good steward with my time.
Some weeks, like this week, are a bit crazy. I have work Monday through Friday and the only night I didn't have something on the calendar was Wednesday. I'm even booked most of the day tomorrow and Sunday. As such, in this week, there wasn't a whole lot of time for me to think about what I should or should not be doing, because I simply had places I need to be and things I needed to do in those places.
But what about those weeks where things aren't so busy? What about those days at work where I have a lot of down time because there aren't projects for me to do? What about then?
My small group and I recently started going through the book "The Respectable Sins" by Jerry Bridges. The premise behind the book is that we, as a Church, often get so wrapped up in the "big" sins of the culture that we neglect to look at the sin in our own hearts. As a result, there are a lot of "respectable" sins that permeate the Church and are seriously hurting it.
After a couple of weeks of introduction, we began digging in to individual sins, the first one being ungodliness.
Chances are, you had the same kind of reaction when you first read that. "Of course I'm not ungodly!" Oh, but you are. Bridges defines ungodliness as living your life without an awareness of God. Now think about how you live each and every day. Think about how much of each day is lived with a constant awareness of who God is, what He has done for you, and what He is doing in your life. Now try to tell me you're not ungodly. I couldn't say that, and chances are you can't either.
At the end of that small group, as we went around doing our normal prayer requests, I asked my girls to identify one particular area where they felt they really struggled with ungodliness that we could pray for each other that week.
One that I mentioned that came up for several other girls as well was managing our time.
I work as an executive assistant and, like many jobs, it ebbs and flows. It seems like I either have a ton of work to do and I'm stressed to the max or I have nothing to do at all. So there are some days when all I really do is read blogs and articles online because otherwise I would literally be paid to sit in a chair and do nothing.
But even still, I'm not always a good steward of my time at work or elsewhere.
I've got a lot of projects going. I'm writing on this blog three times a week, writing daily on my project blog, working on researching freelance writing opportunities, and writing my first book.
There are many ways I could be much more effective in managing my time so that I maximize my productivity, and yet, I don't. Instead of working on my novel during some downtime at work, I aimlessly wander the internet. Instead of preparing a blog post for the next day, I sit on the couch for hours watching TV.
Now please don't misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with relaxation. There is nothing wrong with taking the time to unwind by reading a book or watching television. There is nothing wrong with taking a nap or not doing something that is inherently productive. We need times of rest and relaxation or we get burnt out. But that's not my problem.
My problem is that I don't use the gifts of planning and organization that God has given me to maximize my productive time so that I can truly enjoy my rest time. So I end up feeling guilty for wanting to read a book because I should be writing my book or working on a blog post or trying to find a freelancing job.
So much of life is about intentionality. It's about intentionally choosing what to do when in order to maximize your productivity, your rest, your enjoyment. There's nothing worse than mindlessly watching TV and putting off a project only to have to skip a great night out with friends to get work done. And that's something I don't ever want to do.
Especially when I eventually work from home as a freelance writer and author (it will happen), I need to make sure I am the best steward of my time that I can be. I need to make sure I use the limited number of hours I've been given each day to glorify God in my work and in my rest.
As I've thought more about stewardship, I've begun to realize that those countless mindless hours I spend milling the internet or watching TV just because I don't "feel" like doing something are not glorifying to God. I dishonor Him by not using my time effectively and I want that to stop.
Do you struggle with being a good steward of your time? Or are you a recovering bad time steward? What are some ways you've found to help you use your time most effectively?
Check back Monday for more talk about stewardship in regard to productivity and health!
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The post Stewardship in Every Sense: Part One appeared first on Shades of Shayes.
