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Stewardship
What is Stewardship?
- Stewardship is an understanding of the heart that everything we have is a gift from God, which we are to use to help others.
- Stewardship is a way of life, honoring God in everything we do with all His gifts. Living life God -centered rather than self-centered-thinking of Him first before our own wants.
- Stewardship is having the heart to give back out of love a portion of every gift that has been entrusted to us by God.
- Stewardship is living life with the understanding that someday God will ask each and every one of us what we did with all of His varied gifts.
- Stewardship is a life long faith journey that brings us ever closer to Jesus Christ: following the path He so perfectly laid out for us through His life example.
- Stewardship is life altering and its rewards last an eternity.
How do I Start my Faith Journey in Stewardship?
- Trust in God
- Ask for God's help
- PRAY everyday for the Holy Spirit to guide you on this Journey
A Stewardship Prayer
Dear Lord
I pray that You give me the wisdom to guide me on this faith journey of stewardship. Help me to understand that everything I have is a gift from You. Open up my heart and my mind so that I may use these marvelous gifts to give back to You here on earth.
I pray Lord that you welcome me into Your kingdom at the end of my life and that You are pleased with what I have doen with all Your gifts. Amen
What is tithing?
Tithing is God's plan for giving.
Tithing is the practice, established by God in the Old Testament, of returning 10% of your blessing to God. Originally the tithe was given to the temple or the Church in the form of produce or livestock, since this really was the only income that the people had. As our society shifted from a barter-based system of trade to a monetary exchange system, the tithe began to be paid in currency. Whether one gave monetary income of profit from the fields was really not as important as it was for the believer to understand that the tithe was what was owed to God. The tithe was not given based on the needs of the priests, of the Church or of the poor. It was given simply in recognition and gratitude for the blessings that God had bestowed on the individual. Thus, every believer had a need to tithe to God.
The basic fundamentals of our tithing program:
- Tithing is truly a prvate matter between you and God.
- "The true purpose of tithing is to secure not the tithe, but the tither; not the gift but the giver; not your your money, but you... for God"
- Any commitment is entirely private.
- It involves no pledge card, no visits or phone call, and no written or verbal promises.
- Tithe means 10 percent. The practice has been updated to suggest 5 percent to one's parish church and 5 percent to other personal charities, such as parochial-school tuition, care of elderly parents, the Heart Fund.
- Don't expect anything in return, or it's not true giving. The benefit is that you'll be richer in your life than dollars can ever measure.
Tithing is not about giving more money but rather the why of giving at all. It encourages each of us to evaluate our attitudes about giving, our priorities and ultimately our relationship with the Lord. Tithing is an ancient, beautiful, "heartlifting" practice that views everything as a loving gift from God. The gift of life, our faith, our talents, our finances, the earth, are on loan. it is up to us to recognize these gifts and give thanks by giving back to Him.
Tithing produces a spiritual transformation in the person tithing, since he or she is acknowledging that everything he has comes from God. It's putting God first i
Tithing is such a huge step.
How can I find the courage to commit to this way of life?
Tithing truly does take a great faith. Simply place our trust in God. If you wait until you feel that you are financially comfortable you will never take the step. The commercialism of our society works to convince us that we never have enough. No matter how much we have, there is always something else we will want. If you are ever going to tithe, you will have to step back from your endless list of wants and believe that our generous and abundant God will always provide you with all that you need and even with enough to give back a generous share.
