As we discussed in our last newsletter, stewardship involves every resource (time, talents, treasures, relationships, etc…) that God has entrusted to you. One area that your stewardship becomes easily visible to the world is your lifestyle; it’s where you put your beliefs and values into action as you use the resources given to you. In other words, it is where the rubber meets the road. As a result, good stewardship requires us to have a proper attitude and mindset about every aspect of our life.
The subject of lifestyle is probably the most difficult to address for at least five reasons. First, God’s Word does not specify a particular lifestyle to live. For example, while God’s Word warns us not to pursue wealth there is nothing in His Word condemning a person for being wealthy (we will discuss the topic of wealth in more detail in a later newsletter). (Please note that as we discuss “lifestyle”, we are not referring to a person’s ethical and moral conduct, but rather a person’s “quality” of life or standard of living. God’s Word clearly provides instruction on how we are to conduct ourselves as Christians.) Second, our culture provides us with a great deal of freedom to choose our lifestyle (what we do, where we work, where we live, what we drive, what we do with our leisure time, what we wear, etc...) provided it is honoring to God. Having so many options to choose from can complicate the issue. Third, lifestyle can raise a great deal of controversy very quickly simply because no one wants someone else to tell them how they should “live their life” (and they are generally correct in thinking this provided that sin is not an issue). Fourth, sin can often prohibit us from having a lifestyle that best serves God and...
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...other aspects of a person’s life and result in things such as neglect of family, rest, and/or even worship of God.
Therefore, as you can see, it is impossible, as well as unbiblical, for every Christian to have the same lifestyle. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:18-21, “But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."
Because a person’s beliefs and values will shape their lifestyle, every Christian needs to be sure that their beliefs and values are in line with God’s Word! Lord willing, in future newsletters we will discuss the various aspects of a person’s lifestyle and how each one relates to stewardship.
...and nature is the main source of a guaranteed quality life. The Christians live(d) in cities or towns where the setting makes it important to behave well and have courtesies, as that is the more modern way of living, and therefore it is more logical to them to believe in a system which is more compatible to their lifestyle.
Stuff and money is becoming more important in people’s lives. They forget how much more important the Holy Spirit is in their lives. Forgetting how powerful the Lord is, they begin relying on material items. In eternity, material items will not be of any value! Like the Li family in Safely Home, the Lord wants His followers to rely on Him to provide, instead a sundry of Christ followers begin to depend considerably on money, jobs, and people for providence. In Safely Home, the story illustrates how Christians are to live with God as their provider because when a Christian lives a life in dependence on God, they rightfully focus on the Lord as their provider. God can direct a person’s path in a way no one else is able to. Just like Li Quan, Ming, Shen and all the other Christians in the story accepted, God’s thoughts will become one’s own thoughts and His words will become one’s own words. However, without fully realizing, Ben Fielding was living to serve himself. He was dedicated to his job, being successful, and well-off, but he was still empty inside. This particular successful businessman was always searching for something to fill the hole in his heart until he truly experienced the Lord and His presence. In short, Christians can be challenged by this story to rely on God more and live a lifestyle that pleases
life, and acting upon his responsibilities in order to follow with his heart, instead of with
heavy control by a higher power in how they think, feel, and interact with others. Due to this
My life is governed by the beliefs of the Christian faith. The teaching of Christianity is the driving force that gives me confidence, hope and self-acceptance through God’s unconditional love. God’s love enables me in faith
... live it, but in a way that if you are truly a Christian then you have all the freedom that you need. All the "bad" things will not appeal to you. All humans are born sinners, but I believe that you have the power to control your sin.
...between the ways of God and the ways of Satan. We cannot trust society, or others to tell us differently. Paul writes, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5). A Christians, we must dedicate our lives to obeying God and our way of life, our Christian ethical code. We must live our lives with great dignity and moral character.
life it is your whole life. It is a sense of being with God. It is not
...a man of God I think we need to try our best to take care of the world and try to live the best life we can that will please God. He gave us this earth so we should take care of it the best we can. We have a role of caretakers, we are to appreciate the functionality and beauty of the environment. In His incredible grace and power, God has placed on this planet everything needed to feed, clothe, and house the billions of people who have lived on it since the garden of Eden.
Hence, as a Christian adherent, it is essential they follow the words of the Lord and express their faith in the correct manner. Individuals can do this by following the steps of Paul of Tarsus, in his attempt to spread Christianity worldwide, abide by the ethical teachings set by the church such as euthanasia and participate in Saturday/Sunday Worship.
When someone is placing too much importance on material items instead of intellectual or spiritual objects,
A good steward is the person that takes care or that protects the environment and one who follows God. A good steward can take care of cleaning the planet and recycling. Been a store it can also be a part of helping animals and making sure the population does not extinct. I tried to keep her clean it clean or the animals.as a steward I also tried to save water and try to keep the water clean.
implies that God is present in all of us and should not be chucked out
compassion, and he also adds that it is not our duty to things that we
My church back in my hometown starts our Sunday service around 10:30 a.m. every week. We sing a few worship songs then, every Sunday around 10:50 we take up offering. Before we pass around the plates, a particular elder prays over the offering and one thing he always prays is that God would “…allow us to be good stewards of this offering,” which has always made me beg the question, what is proper stewardship? Webster’s dictionary defines stewardship as: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one 's care. So, using this definition, it is assumed that a higher authority is handing over responsibility of something to a lower class being. In this case it would be the church responsibly managing the money God has blessed