We Are All Stewards – March 28, 1999
As a service project, a college student undertook to raise a puppy for a guide dog organization. Her job was to feed, exercise, socialize, and give basic obedience training to the puppy for a year. After that, the dog would receive additional training by the organization and then be given to a person with special needs. Though she had previously raised many puppies, the young woman found that she was much more careful and particular with this dog, because he was not really hers. She was a caretaker, a steward, and keenly felt her responsibility for the puppy temporarily entrusted to her.
In reality, every one of us is a steward. Scripture teaches clearly, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”1 When we understand our relationship to the gifts that Providence has given us, we not only take better care of them but also gain a sense of our individual importance in the larger plan of creation. We come to see ourselves as key partners of an eternal team.
The earth itself is a gift to us. As stewards, we have the challenging job of tending the land, watching over the precious waters, keeping the air pure and healthful. All of the creatures on the earth are also part of our stewardship.
In our own lives, we have been given magnificent personal gifts that are ours to tend and develop. Great singers and musicians often express this concept of stewardship, believing that their talents come from a divine source, and feeling a keen obligation to use those talents wisely. Every person alive has a gift to give. For one, it may be a mechanical ability; for another, a way with plants or a talent for teaching. One airline employee is regularly complimented for her rich, cheerful telephone voice that brightens many a frustrated customer’s day. Some people have been entrusted with beautiful smiles that radiate joy whenever they are seen.
Surely we have no greater stewardship in life than the children who come our way. Divine souls are put in our care, whether for twenty years or for a day; whether we are parents or teachers, car-pool drivers, or playground supervisors.
Indeed, whatever we are given—land and goods, talents and skills, or human lives—all come from the same source, and all are part of a divine trust.
Program #3632
1Psalm 24:1.