Thoughts on Stewardship

With all the money talk that has been happening in the Moore household, the word steward has been used often. And I have heard Scott say in prayer after prayer, "Lord, truly enable us to live as if our money is YOURS not OURS." That really is our prayer right now--that the Lord would use this time to change us, our hearts and our attitudes, because as we examine how we got into this situation (other than the sudden decrease in income when I came home to raise Ada) we realize that we have often lived as if our money was indeed OURS, when, in fact, it belongs to the Lord. This is something that we hear often, and it is my prayer that the Lord would really begin to reveal to us what it looks like to live in light of that truth. Scott and I certainly don't have it figured out yet. We are just desperate for wisdom right now, always unsure about the next step to take--continue to cut our budget, look for ways to bring in more income, etc. etc. And we want to make decisions based on God's will, not what is most comfortable for us.

As we begin to discuss and think more and more about stewardship, I have been thinking lots about what it means to be a good steward in areas other than money. I have noticed over the course of my life that when the Lord is teaching me something, that something begins to show up in all areas of my life. Right now that something is stewardship. This past Sunday our church seminary intern preached on being good stewards of the creativity that God has given us--and he gave several practical examples of what that looks like. He even mentioned decorating a home and cooking meals. I have been convicted lately that I am not really a good steward in any area of life. I often stay up too late, don't exercise enough, don't eat healthy, and I waste lots and lots of time. Now, I don't want to get legalistic about this, but I do want to always be growing and learning and examining my heart for sin areas. And I feel like this is an area that the Lord is revealing to me. I still have much to learn, and I would love to know any specific verses that discuss this. I just googled verses on stewardship, but I only got verses on tithing. I believe that tithing is only one small part of being a good steward. My prayer is that the Lord would reveal to me how to practically be a good steward of all that he has given me--my family, my home, my time, my talents. And I pray that he would give me a joyful heart about it. That I would find freedom in being a good steward. As I mentioned before I have a rather addictive or controlling personality, so I don't want this to become another area of my life where I WORK to be perfect--the key word being work. I want to find freedom in living in such a way that God is glorified in all areas of my life. I can struggle so with legalism, so my prayer is that the Lord would develop JOYFUL stewardship in my life. And that I would rest in the fact that it is God that will develop this in me.

p.s. Family, I am so sorry about the lack of pictures lately. I am once again having trouble downloading pictures, but as soon as the kinks are worked out, I will post lots of new photos of Ada. I promise.