We hope you are enjoying our series on stewardship so far! We have certainly been encouraged and challenged as we have thought through the 4 Principles of Stewardship, and we hope you have been as well!
So far, we have discussed how everything we have is not ours – it’s God’s – and that God has entrusted us with everything we have. Today, we are going to dive into the third Key Principle of Stewardship, but first, let’s review all four:
At Faith Church, we are taught 4 Key Principles of Stewardship:
- God owns everything, you own nothing.
- God entrusts you with everything you have.
- You can either increase or diminish what God has given you; God wants you to increase it.
- You can be called into account at any time, and it may be today.
Now, when we think about this third principle, it can seem quite daunting. Everyone is tempted to become lazy and want the easy way out every now and then, and seeing that God calls us to not only DO something with what He has given us, but to INCREASE it can cause that lazy-ease-wanting heart of ours to rear its ugly head. However, when God’s calls us to do something, we should rejoice in the opportunity to obey, knowing that His ways are good and always much better than ours.
There are many passages in the Bible that speak against laziness. Colossians 3:23 tells us, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” Likewise, the famous passage in Proverbs 6 states, “Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? ‘A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest’— your poverty will come in like a vagabond and your need like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:6-11) We all need to rest in order to be good stewards of our bodies, but as we can see in His Word, God uses pretty heavy wording to warn against laziness and describe the end result of pursuing an ease-idolizing lifestyle.
With the things God gives us, He wants us to work hard and increase it in order to bring Him glory and build His kingdom! At Vision of Hope, we seek to put this principle into practice in many ways. One huge way we can put this into practice is through our donations. We are very blessed each week with wonderful food donations from Fresh Thyme! We never know what food items we will be receiving, but we know that whatever God entrusts us with, He wants us to increase and use to the best of our ability. It has been fun to be creative and come up with new menu items and recipes using the donations we receive. It takes extra thought and work to think creatively in order to utilize donations in the most effective way, but this work is a joy to us because we know it brings glory to God. Not only our we increasing the food God has blessed us with, but we are also seeking to make our finances go further by taking advantage of these great donations.
One way that you can increase what God has given you is by donating to Vision of Hope! Knowing that you are giving to a ministry that seeks to use your financial donation in order to build God’s Kingdom is an easy and effective way to glorify God and make sure your finances are increased. For more information, click here! And keep checking in for our last installment in our Stewardship series.