Use Everything God Gives You

14 Aug

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me.”  ~ Erma Bombeck

Time. Talent. Treasure. These are the three hallmarks of stewardship.  We are challenged to embrace stewardship to the best of our abilities as Christians.

Time. Talent. Treasure. God gives us plenty of each and He gives them to us for a reason.  Some people mistakenly believe that they have been gifted with time, talent, and treasure in order to make even more for themselves.  They could not be further from the truth.

God has given us all that we have not for ourselves but for others.  Jesus told us that it was only in caring for our brothers and sisters that we truly do His work.  God is not going to care how much we have done for ourselves.  God will want to know how much we have done for others.

There are times that people do not want to do for others because they know that it comes at a cost.  Doing good for others is not easy. It is not cheap. It is not quick. Sometimes doing good for others is difficult, expensive, and takes a long time.  That does not mean that we should not do what is needed for others, though.  That just means that we have the opportunity to show the Lord how much we love Him.

After all, God made the ultimate sacrifice for us in giving us His only Son.  His Son made the ultimate sacrifice for us in dying for us.  Compared to that, the cost that we incur doing good for others is negligible.

Erma Bombeck, a fantastic author and comedienne, really keyed in on the whole concept of living stewardship in her hope to face God one day and let Him know that she gave away to others everything that was entrusted to her.

It is in emptying ourselves that we truly engage in God’s work.  Never forget that ultimate truth: we will all be face-to-face with God one day and have to make an account of what we have done and whom we have helped.

It would not go well for us if we admitted that we never used our gifts for others but, instead, hoarded them and kept everything to ourselves.  That would not please God at all.  Squandering God’s gifts is not how any of us are to live our lives here on earth.

Do not forget: when you give of your time, talent, or treasure to anyone, you do it for the Lord.  The Lord will repay any good deed you do many times over.  But don’t even think about repayment.  Do good for others freely and God will be pleased.

FAITH ACTION:  Do your best to inventory the many talents with which God has blessed you and make a plan to share those talents with as many people as possible.