Stewardship
Dr Ed Cole

You and I do not own what we possess.
We are only the stewards of it.

Everything in life is ministry.
If you change the diaper on a baby, you minister to that child.
If you lubricate a car, you minister to the owner.
If you sell a computer, fix dinner, write a memo, these are all ministry.
Whatever you do in life is ministry.

And the principle is: The more you minister, the greater you become.

You may start small, but you don't have to stay small.
God created us to be birthed, but to grow into maturity.
So it is with you when you are converted to Christ.
That's just the starting point, not the end.

Raymond Meza started working for a fence company when he was a child, picking up nails in the fence yard.
Over time, he proved his worth and was given a regular job.
Now, as an adult, God has made it possible for Raymond to purchase the company, and with a deal he made in New Zealand, grow the company into an international concern.
The corollary principle is: The more you serve, the greater you become.

He that would be the leader among you, let him be the servant of all.

I had a personal assistant who had traveled with me on the World Tour and he was destined for greatness.
Not because he was the smartest person, or the smoothest, most eloquent, or naturally gifted,
but because he had determined to be servant!

We are only stewards of our bodies.
If we are not good stewards, they can become diseased or even die.
We have a mind given to us by creation, and if we are not a good steward,
if we don't study, don't learn, don't practice the power of concentration in order to assimilate truth, then our mind becomes fallow and doesn't produce anything.

The core of ignorance is stubbornness.
The only reason a man remains ignorant is because he refuses to learn.
Proverbs says in order to learn, you must desire to be taught.

Knowledge is the acquiring of facts.
Understanding is the interpretation of facts.
Wisdom is the application of facts.

That's why some people can go through life learning,
but if they never put what they learned into practice, they never become wise.