Stewardship at home
“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Deut 5:16)
Stewardship is the act of taking care of or managing something such as property, money or an organization, especially on behalf of others. Good stewards increase the value of the goods under their care with time; but a poor steward either maintains or even diminishes the value! There are many tips on being a good steward in business – we even have degree courses in business and management – but what does God say? He is the supreme source of all wealth, and we should be interested in His guidance on good stewardship. This month of June will be dedicated to surveying this question. To begin with, right in the heart of the Biblical Law we have an instruction with a promise of prosperity as quoted in Deut 5:16 above:
There is a solid relationship between wealth and relationships. Healthy relationships are fertile ground for living long and increasing wealth. The first relationship to pay attention to is ‘your father and mother’ – children and parents in the home – but in Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians, he speaks about many other relationships: husband and wife, servant and master. In each case, there seems to be one party higher and greater than the other, but Paul call upon both to pay attention to the relationship with dignity and respect. It is not about lordship, being over someone else or feeling inferior and a subordinate, but it is all about healthy relationships. Back home, the blessedness of the healthy relationships is corroborated by a curse upon children who dishonour parents (Deut 27:16); this curse can manifest in chronic failure to increase wealth no matter how hard one works.
Do you want to be a good steward of your God-given gifts, wealth or responsibility? Pay close attention to cultivating healthy relationships beginning at home. It takes time to listen to one another, to talk, to understand what someone feels or perceives, to clarify meanings – it takes time. Time to eat together, to play together, to sing and pray together, all these contribute to building health relationships at home. Beginning here gives us a good foundation and foretaste of cultivating a good relationship with our Father in heaven; and it is He that pours out blessings of health and wealth. We enjoy these blessings here on earth, and even to eternity with Him in a blissful relationship.
Peace be with you!