What if the solution to my selfishness, questionable/regrettable decisions and unnecessary stress was to see myself less as an “owner” and more as a “steward”? This is the idea that we began to explore in last week’s issue (ICYMI, you can read it here [need link to last issue]).
Is this just semantics, a clever little turn of phrase that is somehow supposed to make my life better?
On the contrary, we would suggest that seeing yourself as a steward of your relationships, work, money, body, possessions & time is not only really powerful, it’s a far more accurate description of reality.
Think about it for a moment. Yes, you have made choices and investments of time and money and energy to get you where you are today. But how much of that success or ability to acquire or build was really all yours?
If I’m honest, so much of what I consider my doing was more a result of:
- Which part of the world I was born in
- What kind of family I was born into
- The abilities & aptitude I was born with
- The people I happen to have met
- The mostly unplanned-for life events both good and bad
When I reflect like this I begin to see that so much of what has shaped my life was actually beyond my control or forethought. Both the unmerited good fortune of being born in a free democracy and the disappointment of a failed idea. With time and reflection and the resulting awareness, I can see how many of these things have benefited me and are gifts that I treasure and would not trade.
Add to that the fact that I have generally been spared serious consequences of not-so-wise and selfish decisions, and I start to feel like what I have in my hands is far more a result of someone/something other than me.
Consider further the oft-quoted, perhaps cliche but absolutely true reminder that “you can’t take it with you (when you die)”.
This is a clue to the idea that what we have in our hands is something we have been entrusted with to take care of, for a limited time.
In my worldview (as a Jesus-follower), I believe that God has entrusted me with people to be served, loved and cared for, a world to be made better by utilizing my talents, time and money for good.
Whatever your spiritual persuasions or convictions, the idea of being entrusted with incredibly valuable people and value-creating things, for a limited time, likely resonates in some way. In a dog eat dog world, where the majority subscribe to a philosophy of survival of the fittest, the predominant view is to use people to acquire things. What if we instead recognized that as stewards, we are to use our things to acquire deeper, more connected relationships with others, and to make a positive impact FOR others.
With that idea in mind, what does that mean for how we view our relationships and resources? First and foremost, I think it can change our posture and approach to our everyday actions and interactions. Specifically, at least for me, this impresses on me a sense of:
- Humility. I did not have control over everything good that has happened in my life; it’s not primarily about me, and I’m meant to carefully look after what I have been entrusted with (I’m accountable!)
- Urgency. I have a limited time to have a positive impact on the people in my life, and a limited time to invest the resources I have to make a meaningful difference in our world.
- Peace. I’m not the ultimate owner, brain-power or author of all of these things; I”m simply one steward, being asked to care for a limited amount of things (what I have today) for a limited amount of time.
With that in mind, ask yourself these questions:
- What is a resource, or relationship that I have been entrusted with, but which I have perhaps been neglecting?
- What is something I’m clenching really tightly to (and feeling stressed and anxious about) that I need to simply release?
- What talents and gifts do I have that remain underdeveloped and underutilized because of fear and/or neglect?
