Personal Stewardship
Lesson 6
Truth about God: He is the master who loves us:
John 15:9-14
9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.
11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
In Christianity we obey God because we are already loved, not in order to be loved.
Jesus tells us that if we really love God, we will obey him. His commands are for our good. Just like a parent will keep a child from running out in the street, God only commands us to do things that are good for us psychologically, physically, mentally and morally.
Introduction: Slaves of Jesus Christ
The Bible presents two kingdoms--the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. We are subjects of one of the two kingdoms. We are either a slave of Satan, moving toward destruction, or a slave of God leading to life and blessing.
Romans 6:16-18
16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.
18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
We have chosen to be owned by Christ. We are his slave by choice.
I Corinthians 6:19, 20
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
What is the purpose of a temple?
A temple is a place of worship. Our body should be used to worship God. The things I do with my body are important to God.
As God's temples what should we do?
We should represent him well to our world. We should show his love and his integrity to the people in our lives.
A steward is a person who is responsible for the possessions of another. If we have a financial counselor he or she is responsible for the proper use of our funds. If they use them wrongly for their own enrichment they can be prosecuted.
We are stewards of our lives to the one who owns us, God.
As stewards there are specific things that we have been put in charge of--our bodies, our finances, our time, and our talents and gifts.
I. Our Bodies
I Thessalonians 4:3-8
3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;
6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.
7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
On a practical level how can we keep our body holy and honorable rather than passionately lustful?
We can do is be careful what we put into our eye gate. We are to only have a sexual relationship with our spouse. Sex in marriage is a gift from God.
II. Our Finances
II Corinthians 9:6-15
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
9 As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.
13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.
14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.
15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
What are the promises in this section of scripture, and what are the conditions necessary to receive the promises?
Promises Conditions/Commands
III. Our Time
Ephesians 5:15-20
15 Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,
20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
How are the spirit filled life and good time management related?
IV. Our Gifts and Talents
Romans 12:3, 4
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
Ephesians 4:11-13
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
We are to humbly serve, using our gifts and talents to build the body of Christ.
V. Our Mind and Heart
The heart is the store of all our thoughts, all the input from our world, all our loves and hates, joys and sorrows. It is the real definition of who we are when the world is not looking.
Matthew 12:33-37
33 "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
How can we be assured that good comes out of us and not evil?
Fill our heart with good things!
Other Verses on the Heart
Psalm 24:3-6; 78:70-72; 139:23, 24
Bottom line: We are the Lord's
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