Stewardship
Newby Management has always operated with a faith-based perspective. From its beginning faith and Christian business principles touched every facet of the company. In recent years it has become important to our ownership and leadership to be intentional about the legacy we leave as a faith-based company and preserving that position for the future of Newby Management.
Over the course of the last year we have spent much time and prayer reviewing and refreshing the companies core values. As a result of that process a Vision Statement was cast, as well as a new Mission Statement. In addition a set of core values was established to act as a guide for accomplishing all that we endeavor to do. The new Core Values have been set to an acrostic to make a statement in and of itself, S.E.R.V.E.
Stewardship – diligent care of resources entrusted to us
Encourage – listen, understand, act, encourage
Relationships – others first, warm welcome, fond farewell
Value – striving for consistent personal and professional growth
Excellence – Surpassing expectations
Currently I am working through each of these core values with our corporate team in our devotion time. The word stewardship is the first word of the acrostic and was the first term of discussion. Stewardship is mater that applies to every facet of life, not just our work or personal lives.
God’s word states in Galatians 6:7-10
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
We can see three simple principals identified in this scripture.
The first is the principal of sowing and reaping. It is a fact; you harvest what you plant. If you plant corn, you get corn. In contrast the writer in verse 8 makes a spiritual application. Plant or sow corruption and you will harvest corruption. Plant or sow spiritual things and you harvest righteousness. The application for us here at Newby in the workplace becomes; what are we sowing as it relates to our responsibilities both individually and as a company?
The second principal I see is what I call the principal of Life isn’t fair! The writer in the first part of this passage make it sound as if one does everything right in life (sow good) Things will be good. While that may be true in an eternal sense, it sure isn’t true in an earthly / sense.
Matthew 5:45 says “…. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Verse nine clearly has a word of encouragement as it sates “do not lose heart” Why would the writer gives this encouragement if there weren’t going to be difficult days! The truth is it isn’t easy doing good / working hard day in and out, but we are called to carry on. Effective stewardship requires consistent sowing of good work habits.
The third principal of get it while the getting is good. This is not meant in a greedy sense but rather scripture identifies that seasons of opportunity come and go. We should make the most of the opportunities that are provided to us by the Lord above. None of us know what tomorrow will bring.