Stewarding Words: A Case for the Wise Sayings of the Proverbs

(By Thor Knutstad)

If you have known the LORD as a believer for some time, you have heard this often repeated list of phrases:

Steward your time (moments, hours, days, the clock)

Steward your treasure (money, possessions, resources, home)

Steward your talents (God-given abilities, spiritual gifts)

To steward something literally means “to manage it.”  Actually, the word itself infers that it would be “managed well.”  The dictionary defines steward (the verb) as:  1. to supervise the arrangement of, 2. to keep order of and be responsible for, 3. to manage or look after and have charge over, 4. to actively direct or administer.  In the Bible, the Hebrew for steward (as a noun) was used for one who “ruled over as an overseer.”  This person had full charge over the household, property and business affairs for the owner (like Joseph had over the house of Potiphar in Genesis).  The New Testament definition in both the Aramaic and the Greek is not dissimilar from the Hebrew.  To steward meant to rule or have charge over.  Peter called believers to steward the grace of God (1 Peter 4:10), while Paul called fellow Christians to steward the (now revealed) mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:12).  He told the leaders of the church (overseers such as pastors/elders) to take scrupulous care of the flock as a steward (Titus 1:7).  Needless to say, to steward can be summed up in this connection of many words – manage, look after, direct, administer, care for scrupulously, have charge over or to oversee.   

I already mentioned that we have repeatedly heard the wise mandates to steward our time, our treasure and our talents.  The LORD wants us to manage our moments and hours, to oversee our possessions and resources, and to administer our gifts and abilities for Kingdom purposes.  But when I read the Proverbs, I of reminded of a fourth stewardship.  I am called to steward my tongue (or my words).  In my observation and experience as a pastor, Christian counselor, husband, father, man and fellow struggler, we are NOT stewarding our words well.  Our words are full of lies, gossip, accusation, division, a lack of gentleness, legalism, foolishness, approval, pride, self-glory, deception, chattering, manipulation, immorality and perversions, poorly timed statements, context forgetting, ungraciousness, gospel averting, indiscretion, seductiveness, poor tone, eye-rolling, poorly stewarded words.  We are just not stewarding well our words,folks.  Go back and reread that very sobering list.  Did I miss any one of us in those depictions?  It’s doubtful.  Don’t feel judged.  That is not my intention at all.  But if you sense the conviction of God’s Spirit about stewarding your words better, then I have done my job in hoping to provide wise counsel in my own words to you.

In Proverbs 6:16-19, Solomon lists seven things that the LORD absolutely hates.  Three of the seven are related to actually stewarding words: #2 – He hates a lying tongue. #3 – He hates a false witness, and #7 – He hates the stirring up of dissension among brothers.  As a matter of opposites, Solomon is in essence saying this:  steward words for truth, for honesty, and for peace and unity.  He is saying that the LORD loves these things (the latter) rather than the former (#2,#3, #7).  When we know the heart of our LORD God and how He speaks and how He stewards His own words in His Word, we will communicate better and speak from His heart (not ours).  We often say “that’s how I feel” or “that’s my opinion” or “that’s what I think,” but we forget the sobering truth that Jesus said in Luke 6:45, that “out of the heart the mouth speaks.”  When we steward well our words, we are speaking from the heart of the LORD and by His wise sayings.  Here are some questions from the Proverbs concerning the stewardship of words/talk that I am listing for us to take an honest look at:

Do I pursue wisdom in the Proverbs? (Do these wise sayings matter to me?) – Prov. 1-2

Do I know the benefits of wisdom?  Is wisdom supreme to me? – Prov. 3

Do I love wisdom? – Prov. 4:7

Do my words “invite ruin”? (Prov. 10:10)

Do I speak what is fitting (10:32) and give well timed and apt replies? (15:23, 25:11)

Are my words reckless (12:18) or perverse (10:31-32) or kind (12:25) and pleasant? (16:21)

Am I like a fool whose soul is ‘snared by his words’? (18:7)

Do I chatter aimlessly too many words (10:8,19) or hold my tongue appropriately in silence?

Again, go back and reread each one and contemplate the specific questions on this list.  Read the corresponding Scripture reference for God’s greater wisdom to see more fully what the Spirit of the LORD is saying through King Solomon.  And make it the goal of your heart and mind to steward well your words.  For the tongue truly does have the power of life, or death.  Stewarding well our words ministers life to others.  Don’t spread words of death.  Rather, steward well your words, dear people.  For this is the heart of God.  Praise Him. 

-- Copyright, 2015: Thor Knutstad, all rights reserved.

Good Around The Corner

This blog was originally posted on Sarah Howard's blog "Letting Your Feminine Heart Live". Read more at: http://www.somuchhope.com/the-female-heart-alive

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Last week, I came home from my usual routine of dropping my husband off at work to find that our house had been robbed.

I first noticed tire tracks in the snow in our driveway. Then I saw the foot prints leading up to the door. Lastly, I saw that our door was open and the frame was splintered.

I quickly turned around and herded my two daughters back into the car and locked it. I facetimed Caleb: "Honey...I think our house has been robbed..." and called the police.

When we were able to enter our house again, we found that pretty much every room had been ransacked: closets thrown open with everything that had been inside lying on the ground; every drawer pulled out and rifled through; bags opened; papers scattered about; jewelry flung over the counter...it was a mess. And it was very disconcerting to see our possessions looked through and thrown all over the place.

As I've processed the violation of an uninvited guest being in our home and going through our things, there's one thing that I keep coming back to. This turn of events could really freak me out. I could start to feel unsafe in our home. I'm a stay-at-home mom who was robbed in the middle of broad daylight, for crying out loud! I could decide we need to move to a safer neighborhood. I could freak out every time I hear an unexpected noise.

And yes, those things are certainly coming into my head. I never knew our house made SO MANY random noises. Now I do. These are the emotions and thoughts of real life - I can't escape them. We're definitely grappling through the brokenness of what happened to us. We're finding out (again) that the pain of living on earth is unavoidable.

But in the middle of those thoughts, that's not the only reality that I can choose to hold onto. At the exact same time of holding on to the reality that a break-in really did happen to us, I'm fighting to know that I can, in my other hand, hold on to the reality that I am a child of God. I belong to Him. And because of that, I am completely safe.

I'm not safe in the sense that nothing bad will ever happen to me, or if I just 'speak safety over my future' with enough faith, no harm will ever befall me. We were robbed. That can certainly fall in the category of something bad happening. But because God Himself, the Strongest and most Significant Being in the whole world, holds me in His hands, nothing can ever touch me or happen to me that He has not allowed. His eyes are on me. 24-7. And He is doing good to me, no matter what it looks like to my eyes.

So I don't have to freak out. I don't have to move to the best neighborhood to make sure this never happens again. In order for me and my family to be safe, I don't have to be the strong one. I don't have to save myself. I am in GOD'S hands. And because of that, there is good, and not disaster, around the corner.

Sarah blogs regularly, connect with her at http://www.somuchhope.com/the-female-heart-alive. 

Does God Save Just to Bless Me?

(By Diego Cuartas)

I was reading some passages from the Bible the other day and came across Psalm 85:9. I could not help but read it again and again to grasp what is being said there. 

"Surely his [God's] salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land." 

What grabbed my attention is the idea that when God acts favorably on behalf of any individual, something more than "salvation" takes place. When God saves any of us, He not only has our well-being in mind, but also His own glory. When God saves, He also desires His glory to dwell in our land. Perhaps God saves not only to bless us but to also make his honor and abundant riches known on earth. Almost like a witness to Himself in terms of who He is and who can be for those who would fear Him. I suspect He knows that when His glory is revealed on the earth others will come to see Him as He is and be inclined to fear Him too.

With a little bit of search or study, I found that there are several words that are used to describe God's salvation: deliverance, salvation, rescue, safety and welfare. When God delivers you or rescues you or brings you to safety or acts to ensure your welfare, in some way He is also working toward allowing His glory to fill the earth.

You could ask the question: does God bring salvation to any of us because He is primarily concerned with us experiencing Him as Savior? The answer I propose is no. He has our welfare in mind, along with our experience of His salvation, but He also desires to fill the earth with His glory. His glory fills the earth through the experience and knowledge of His salvation. It is not just for us; it is for many more to see.

I encourage you to read for yourself the passage. It is packed with ways in which God extends salvation, deliverance, rescue, safety and welfare toward people who fear Him.  You will also find (in verse 13) that the revelation of God's glory, particularly His righteousness, is said to make a pathway in which our footsteps can follow or walk. Beautiful imagery that can inspire our desire to observe the ways in which God reveals His salvation and glory.

For further digging (study), I encourage you to learn about the "sons of Korah"--who are identified as the writers of this Psalm. Learning about them and who their father was can add greater meaning to what is being presented in this passage.

For reflection, ask yourself:

• in what ways can I know God better as I see Him deliver, save, rescue, bring to safety or seek the welfare of others?
• How can I help others to see God's abundant riches revealed through the ways He is offering salvation to me?

Rejoice in His salvation, and may God use you as an instrument to help reveal His glory to others.

FLUFFY

One might naturally suppose that when a teenage girl takes herself to town to go shopping, she would likely come home with something cute, like a shirt. At least, that’s what I expected. But my elder daughter, Andi? Nothing so mundane. She came home with a Boa Constrictor.

Only spiders give me the willies, and snakes aren’t really slimy, but my first choice would not be to share my home with one. But there it was, along with a big glass tank and a live mouse for its dinner. We already had or used to have multiple happy animals -- dogs, cats, horses, gerbils, guinea pigs and a hermit crab – but in this case I really did not favor the idea of either the mouse or Fluffy (she had already named him!) escaping from the tank. After many assurances from my daughter that this would not occur and, I’m sure, also silently from the snake, as regarded the mouse, Fluffy became part of the family.

We don’t always get what we want, or even what we think we need. And we’re often not very appreciative of what God does provide for us. We think He doesn’t understand, or doesn’t hear us. And we think we know best what would solve whatever problem it is we’re facing. We beg and we beg. 

I’ve done some begging. 

A few years ago my son Denny was going to sell his payroll business, and he hired a reputable (he thought) broker to line up a buyer. He became connected with a small group of investors who seemed legitimate, but they weren’t. They stole $1.8 million from his tax accounts and when my son found the money missing and contacted the IRS they ran back to the hole they had climbed out of and left him holding the bag. In the middle of all this my son’s excellent lawyer suddenly died from a heart attack!  The prosecutor went after everyone. One of the so-called investors was sentenced to years in prison, but the judge decided that since my son was the owner of record she had to “sentence him to something,” and gave him 18 months in federal prison, which turned out to be in Ohio. He had stolen nothing.  

I begged God to change it all. I could not understand why He had allowed such a miscarriage to happen. One thing after another went wrong. Unbelievably, his second lawyer died from a heart attack! And because U.S. Marshalls picked my son up to take him to a hearing in New Jersey without properly notifying some clerk his record was changed to say that he had attempted to escape from a maximum security prison (he’d never been in one). It was never corrected, and after he was returned from the hearing he was housed in solitary confinement for months and months and months! He had been a Christian since he was 14; do you think his faith was tested? You can bet it was! Do you think mine was? I wept. I begged. But I wrote and wrote and assured my son over and over and over that God loved him and was with him every minute, and prayed that it was true. We both hung on by a thread.

But you know what? God was working on him, and for him, the whole time. My son did not grow up on the street, and he knows that he would not have survived in the general population of federal prison. It’s a different world in there. He wouldn’t have known how. Isolation, moving from cell to cell every couple of weeks, was terrible, but we realize that God was protecting him the whole time. There were things God wanted to change in him, and He did. My son came out of that experience with greater maturity, with much deeper faith, owning his faults and mistakes and never doubting that God had been leading him. Denny has often told me that he feels that God knew that it would take 20 years to get him from point A to point B, but instead He took Denny on the intensive, accelerated trip in 18 months. And he is grateful every day. God used that dark time to accomplish things in him that my son might never have allowed if he had not been where he was. He was changed. And as for me, if I ever doubted God, I never will again. 

Life is not just funny stories. Some periods are indescribably painful, with no sign of a bright light ahead. But God is there. And God is good. God is always good. And He loves us with an everlasting love. 

If you are going through a dark time, large or small, hang in there. Pray for wisdom. Pray for peace in your spirit. Pray for trust. When there is no understanding, there is only trust.  God is so completely, totally trustworthy. He will see you through.

Norma Stockton

The Gospel in 6 Minutes

This week I want to recommend a video from John Piper to remind us of the key pillars we find in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Depending on where you are at today listening to this short video clip might be the encouragement you need today. We "never outgrow" the gospel, says Piper, it is the news we need to preach to our souls even after we have trusted Christ for our salvation and transformation.

Sincerely,

Diego Cuartas

Game Changing Perspective: A Call to Arms

 One of my favorite old testament bible stories is found in 2 Kings 6:8-23. The curtain rises on the king of Syria making war on Israel. However, despite his many tactics to trap them, they manage to out maneuver him because they heed the warning of Elisha who has insight from God into the enemy’s plan. Tension begins to mount because the king of Syria realizes that it is by no coincidence that the Israelites keep circumventing him. He thinks at first that he must have been betrayed by one of his own men, but they are quick to inform him that it is the prophet Elisha who tells the king of Israel even “the words that you speak in your bedroom” (2 Kings 6:12, ESV). 

   So what happens next? He sends an army in the middle of the night to surround the city of Dothan where Elisha was staying in order to capture him. He must be thinking. Aha! Try to escape now! Elisha’s servant awakes in the morning to see that they are surrounded on every side by a great army. He freaks out and runs to see what Elisha wants to do. Elisha says, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16). He then prays over his servant that God would open his eyes  and the craziest thing happens. God does it. Cue epic music. The young man’s eyes are opened and he sees chariots of fire filling the mountainside. God sends his angel armies and has the enemy surrounded. What!? Talk about a change in perspective. 

    This New Year’s day I didn’t have any desire to make a resolution. I knew that after the newness of the year wore off that I would be lucky to even remember what I had promised to do let alone accomplish it. 2014 was a beautiful year but a hard one that left me hopeful and raw all at the same time. It was a year that blew all of my best laid plans out of the water and sucker punched me with many unexpected difficulties. So with that said, I only prayed a simple prayer at the beginning of this year. I prayed that God would renew my sense of perspective again and again and again. I asked that he would remind me that the difficult and mundane parts of my story are wrapped up in his much bigger one. 

    It does not come naturally and I need him to open my eyes. When Satan taunts me with my past failure, I need him to open my eyes. When life is just hard and the fulfillment of his promises seems delayed, I NEED him to open my eyes to see that, “Because of the Lord’s great love I am not consumed, for his compassions never fail” (Lam. 3:22, NIV). 

So, let’s fight well church and lean into our God’s strength. He has never left us and he never will. He has our enemy surrounded. He will and has won. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16, NIV).

Sophia Howard

Blue's Clues

(By Lois Robinson)

The statements that I am hearing a lot of these days are:

    “Man, I am feeling so tired, down, and don’t want to do anything.”

    “I’m feeling so yucky and overweight!”

    “I just want to be left alone. I’m so tired of people and their crap!”

    “All I want to do is eat.”

    “I could sleep for two days if I was allowed!”

    “Ugh, I’m so tired of the days being so short, and the cold is annoying!”

    “I want to live someplace warm”

And the list goes on and on...

Well, we could say that the above statements are a case of not be grateful for living another day or we could say just pray about it or throw a christian-y cliche out there and insult the person. We could, and many times do, all of the above. 

But…

The above statements may be CLUES to a deeper issue going on, one that cannot be wiped away with a quick cliche that doesn’t help but serves to offend.  Some may call it a chronic case of the Blues, but the truth is, this time of year is a classic time for Seasonal Affective Disorder. It is a real condition and actually has a name! In a recent Google search, the following list popped up, and I have copied and pasted it below. Why try to reinvent the wheel and put my little spin on it. Take a look.

People with SAD have many of the normal warning signs of depression, including:

Less energy.

Trouble concentrating.

Fatigue.

Greater appetite.

Increased desire to be alone.

Greater need for sleep.

Weight gain.

I would encourage you to take an assessment of your own behaviors, especially after the holidays. That is when many people tend to dip down in their mood, especially during the winter months. In the counseling room, I get a lot of calls from people that begin experiencing increased anxiety, depression and even panic disorder during this time. That is not including the added stressor of the change of seasons to shorter days and longer nights. Isolation, increased sleep, increased eating and the tiredness that more sleep just doesn’t fix! All classic symptoms of SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, or the Blues that won’t go away. 

If you or someone you know may be struggling with this, I would encourage you to reach out to someone you trust, maybe even call a mental health professional, a counselor that can help you sort through what you are experiencing. Usually knowing it actually has a name and is a real condition is of some comfort. Don’t stop there though. Come out of isolation and begin taking action steps that are the opposite of the downward spiral. 

For me, I will move toward people that love me and are safe. I know they love Jesus more than me so will tell me the truth for my own benefit and to see me grow. I also process my thoughts and feelings. The other thing I have just started doing is getting more active by joining the local YMCA. I have people pray for me, recognizing that Jesus knows (He really knows me and my struggles) even when I get the Blues! The last thing I will have you check out is this powerful verse:

But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. (Psalm 59:16, NIV)

These kinds of verses are found in the Bible, around the center of the book if you are looking it up.       

Though it can be very hard to actually open my mouth and verbally say or sing the above verse, it is where my ability comes from to crawl out of the dark hole. It tends to happen to most of us; it is all in how you respond. 

Be blessed friends!