The concept that leaders must be faithful stewards takes maturity to understand. Additionally, it takes courage to lead and not everyone possesses the leadership talent. Therefore, those who have the innate ability to lead stand out from the crowd. And when those leaders develop the leadership talent, they realize they must steward everything they have at their disposal.
I encourage you to view stewardship as your biggest responsibility as a leader. Let’s start by examining the source of our talents. Romans 12:6-8 tells us that, God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. …If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage other, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”
Next, let’s examine the various areas of stewardship we are entrusted with:
Steward your money.
In Luke 16 we read the story of the Shrewd Manager where a rich man entrusts a manager to steward all his affairs. The owner heard the manager was dishonest and, consequently, fired him. Verses 10-12 say, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
These verses remind us of the importance to be a faithful steward of the money God entrusts us with. Remember, everything belongs to God. He chooses who He gives what and our responsibility is to steward every single thing that He entrusts us with. The key to not get attached to money is to be generous and help others consistently as stated above in Romans 12 “If you have money, share it generously.”
From the practical perspective, setting financial goals is also important to be a good steward of your money. In addition, setting a monthly budget and sticking to it is crucial to stay on track with your financial goals. Lastly, living within your means is imperative to avoid debt which is one reason some people end up in poverty. This is especially important during inflationary times.
Steward your talents.
As stated above, God gave talents to each person, and we must steward those talents as well. In The Fire Within: Connect Your Gifts with Your Calling book, I dedicated an entire chapter that I called “Treasure Chest – You,” to describe how we can discover, polish, and use our gifts. I make the analogy of talents with jewels: “Gemstones have the capacity to allow the light to shine through, like emeralds, or to reflect the light, like pearls. The same happens with our gifts. Allowing God’s light to shine through or reflect His light on our gifs, so others can be blessed, is a gift in itself. Our gifts are for us and others to enjoy and for God to get the glory. Each gift has a special purpose.”
I encourage you to discover your talents, develop them, and use them to help others. Use them in your job and outside of work as a volunteer to help people in your community.
Steward the talent of others.
As a leader, you are responsible to guide and lead your employees. And that includes utilizing their own talents in a way that helps them develop those talents. In the Bring YOUR Shoes: A Fresh Perspective for Leaders with Big Shoes to Fill book, I wrote a chapter called “Do You Allow Your Employees to Flourish?” where I encourage you to allow employees to explore and expand their talents in three ways: 1) Trust that your employees can do their jobs. 2) Challenge your employees with new things where they can use their talents. 3) Value your employees and acknowledge their talents and what they bring to your organization as a person.
Steward your time and invest in relationships.
In a separate chapter of the Bring YOUR Shoes book, called “A New Concept: Invest Your Time,” I encourage you to invest your time in what’s most important: people. When we invest our time in the relationships God entrusted us with, we demonstrate the ability to steward our relationships well. A few practical things you can do to steward your time are: Be present at home and at work. This means when you are with your family, truly be present with them. When you are at work, perform the duties you are responsible to do, gladly. Be strategic on how you invest your time and choose based on the stewardship principle.
I hope this blog helps you reflect on everything you possess and provides you tips to become the best steward that you can be with what you have. Leaders must be faithful stewards and it takes courage to lead and discipline to faithfully steward our money, time, talents, and relationships.