Characteristics of Stewardship

Characteristics of Stewardship

Christian stewardship can be identified by several meaningful characteristics, according to Stewardship, a national newsletter written by Parish Publishing:

- Christian stewardship provides spirituality that the lay person can take home from church, exercise at work and express through personal involvement in the community and church.

- Christian stewardship successfully bridges the material world around us and the world of the Spirit within us.

- Stewardship enables Christians to measure the extent of their faith in and love of Jesus by the kind and quality of the stewardship they perform.

- Stewardship gives joy! Those who voluntarily give their time and abilities for work in the parish and community will always experience joy if they give them for Christ. They are not, however, guaranteed freedom from frustration.

- Stewardship is not job-oriented or project-minded. It is a way of life for a lifetime.

- Christian stewardship takes a positive view of money. It sees money not only as a medium of exchange but also as a symbol of the person who has it. The way we acquire it, use it, and share it, we are revealed in those actions.

- Christian stewardship helps us to become aware that God is the ultimate giver of the gifts we have. To give to God should be from the top—not from what may be left over.

- Stewardship teaches Christians to be concerned about where and how to share their parish financial overflow. Stewardship is not giving just to meet the budget needs.