The overwhelming generosity the parishioners of CSMSG have shown over the past four weeks is quite a testament to the Church’s mission of caring and serving each other. This fact led me to reflect upon self-stewardship and the well-known adage "In case of an emergency, put on your own mask first before assisting others." A simple concept that makes sense. We can't help others for very long if we don't take care of ourselves first.
While compiling thoughts for the theme of “self-stewardship,” I happened upon the website, "JesusHacks", which explains this theme perfectly in the context of our love for Jesus and faith in him. It is as follows: “To be successful, the world says you need to love yourself, you need to esteem yourself, you need to choose yourself. To be happy, ensure you get ‘me time’ and always make sure to follow your heart. But this is a cheap counterfeit of biblical, godly and wise stewardship.
Loving yourself is a very popular and appealing idea in our culture today and even in the modern church. But no matter how popular or appealing the idea of self-love may be, this idea falls short of what Jesus teaches us. The
countercultural biblical alternative
to the world’s call for self-love is far more satisfying and motivating than anything we could possess or promote by turning internally and seeking the answers within ourselves, designing our own destinies, being our own hero, or creating our own vision for life.
The countercultural biblical alternative to self-love is
self-stewardship
. Properly governing and developing ‘self’ in a Jesus-centric way is the first responsibility a good steward must learn. All Jesus followers must approach the area of ‘self-care,’ personal growth, and ‘all things practical’ in this way.
Self-stewardship is essentially stewarding our body, soul, spirit, mind, heart, conscience, will, emotions, energy, time, gifts, abilities and possessions; basically, all that you are and have in everyday life under the authority, agenda and advancement of Jesus and His mission. Because as Jesus followers we are not our own but belong to God, we must do all that we do with the mindset of stewardship, beginning with our first responsibility: ourselves.
This is not selfish or inward focused. It is responsible and ultimately results in outward focus. This is not narcissistic, but biblically necessary. This is not primarily for your gain but for God’s glory. The joy, happiness, blessings, benefits, outcomes and rewards are secondary and a byproduct of that primary purpose of stewarding what is God’s for His glory and purposes. So we steward our body, heart, soul, spirit, mind, conscience, will, emotions, energy, time, gifts, abilities and possessions for the glory of God and the service of others.”
While continuing to shelter in place and implement social distancing for the near future, my hope is that each and every one of us is able to self-steward and thank God for all that he has given us even in this time of uncertainty amid a planet-wide crisis.
Gratefully Yours,
Alexis
