Sunday: Stewardship and Godliness
Godliness is a vast topic. Godly people live a holy lifestyle (Titus 1:1), becoming like Christ with an attitude of devotion and with actions that are pleasing to Him (Ps. 4:3, Titus 2:12).
Godliness is the evidence of true religion and receives the promise of eternal life. No philosophy, wealth, fame, power, or favored birth offers such a promise.
People in the hand of God
Read 2 Timothy 3:1-9. What is Paul warning about here that’s directly related to the life of a faithful steward?
The book of Job provides a description of Job’s character and actions. It illustrates how a godly life is revealed, even through suffering. It also shows how much Satan hates that lifestyle.
Even God acknowledges that there were no others like Job in his quality of faith and lifestyle (Job 2:3).
“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1, NKJV). Thus, we see a man whose faith wasn’t just an expression of words or religious rituals, though that was part of his life (Job 1:5). His fear of God was manifested in an entire life of godliness, even amid horrific trials. Being godly doesn’t mean we are perfect, only that we reflect perfection in our own sphere.
Read Ezekiel 14:14. What does this text say that testifies to the character of these men? What do they have in common that should be seen in all of us?
Stewardship is, really, an expression of a godly life. Faithful stewards don’t just have a form of godliness. They are godly, and this godliness is revealed in how they live, in how they handle the things that their God has entrusted them with. Their faith is expressed not only in what they do but also in what they don’t do.
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The Holy Spirit motivates Godly thoughts and feelings in us with our permission, and that produces Godly actions, therefore, Godly living. We need to apply godliness to all our circumsrances so that the whole life can be Godly. That is the goal I believe God wants us to set as His children.
Our author said, "Being godly doesn’t mean we are perfect, only that we reflect perfection in our own sphere."
What does this mean?
When we look at the reformation, we can see the progression of truth. Everyone of the reformers spoke the truth that was revealed to them. All of them were perfect in their own sphere.
I believe the author points out we must reflect God! The world that we live in often times distort His image. As stewards we are reminded that the God who owns all (Psalm 24:1) created us in His image. Therefore we are to reflect God's grace (who is perfect) in tangible ways to improve our world.
In our heart, the best we can do is generally Love one another. As only as we live this planet When we accept the fact that we are sinners, and our only help and hope is to depend on a power greater than our self that can restore us to our sanity. We become holy at any moment in time.
Are we going to have problems in life YES. The example they gave is Job in 1:5
Job’s testing will be a result of this divine-satanic conflict, an interaction he knew nothing about.
So pray daily at home, in your car, at the stores, for God Godliness and goodness.
This statement is causing consternation to at least one, and if others read it carefully, possibly many more than one. Perfection, in the sense that one is without sin, will not happen this side of eternity.
Reflecting perfection suggests, though may not mean, that the life we live demonstrates (ie, reflects) Christ's perfection to the world. That, again, we can never do perfectly. If we use Paul's metaphor of a mirror (now we see in a glass darkly, but then face to face) whatever we reflect of the grace and mercy of Jesus will be but a poor reflection of the Divine perfection lived and demonstrated in the Christ, just like the stainless steel mirrors installed in some public bathrooms.
Be ye therefore perfect. We become perfect (blameless) as we surrender completely to God, living in obedience to what God reveals to us and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and to empower us.
Consider the statement as referring to a child. A 9-month-old baby may or may not walk and still be perfect. (None of our five boys walked until they were over 12 months old.) Different children develop differently, according to their genetics and environment, and they can still be "perfect" as children. We may expect a 10th-grader to be able to do algebra, but we don't expect the same of a five-year-old.
In the same way, we may be "perfect" according to our stage of Christian development. What matters, as Phil van der Klift notes, is the intention of the heart. When we have truly surrendered all of ourselves, including our time and possessions, to God, we are "perfect" in His sight, though others may still see plenty of faults. That's because God does not judge by the outward appearance but by the heart.
[A Postscript: This understanding of "perfection" should warn us against judging another person by our standards, because cannot see the heart. That's also why Jesus warned us against judging.]
This is like a final exam. or a final exhortation, which is generic because we are individual. When we become God's manager or steward is holy.. The question is what does in mean to be holy?
Loving self is not bad, however, loving self and being selfish is antoher thing we have to work on. As in the text of 2 Timothy 3:1-9 states.
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
What is the power of God, and what is greatest power of God?
In Ezekiel 14:14
14 Three great men like Noah, Daniel and Job might be in that country. But their goodness could save only themselves, says the Lord God.
Noah preached to the people around him, the many years he was building the ark, but no one listened and repented.
Job was saved in the presence of his friends who did not believe. God may not remove you from your problem, but He will protect you in the problem, if you stay in right standing with Him.
Daniel was saved in the lion's den, not from it.
So in this scripture shows that even the presence and prayers of the godly could not stop the coming judgment. This text provides rare exceptions to the principle that one man’s righteousness is no protection for others.
So in the end we cannot saves others
To live a Godly life we need to develop a relationship with God! And Jesus is the way to go! Through the contemplation of His life, we might learn to love Him more! Only this love can make us perfect.
The term 'perfect' creates a lot of confusion because it has a range of connotations. In the Bible, perfect does not refer to being sinless. Rather, it refers to both (a) a person's heart intention and (b) the progressive 'working-out' of that intention.
Consequently, Biblical perfection refers to a person whose heart desire is to become more and more like God - and because that is their genuine desire that they are putting into action, they are actually becoming more and more God-like in their character (beneficent attitudes, thoughts, behaviours, etc). It is about maturing to ever increasing maturity of wholeness. It is the progressive process of actual character restoration. It is the harmonious union of the empowering of the Holy Sprirt and the 'working out' (like the 'work-out' at a gym) of salvation by the believer (see Phil 2:12-13).