Steward part 3
"Take care of this for me." That's one of the biggest things you can ask of a person. And it doesn't matter what you're asking them to take care of. It could be a plant... a pet... or the most powerful force in the universe--love. It doesn't matter. Because asking someone to take of something for you is trusting them. Putting whatever it is literally in their hands. And once you do that, you can't really control what happens next. Not that I think you can control much of anything, anyway. My uncle always talks about how life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you deal with it. What's gonna happen is gonna happen. You can't control it. And you surely can't control other people. You can only control yourself. Your reaction. What you do with what happens. So rather than going into business by, or for, yourself... just take care of what your heavenly Father has given you. Just be a good steward. And in this case, what we're talking about, is the love of God. That's what we've been given. That's what we are stewards of. And in order to take care of love you must--MUST--give it away. Because love IS giving. Remember the parable Jesus told about the servants? Matthew chapter 25? Look at Matthew 25:25-27, "And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have recieved mine own with usury." Point being--the master is not happy when the servant does nothing with what he's been trusted with. Thinking that we are guarding, or keeping, our hearts by shutting them down is the exact opposite of the truth. That's the worst thing you can do. Your heart only has one purpose: To be a conduit of love. To let love in and out. With every beat of the heart. With every beat of God's heart in our chests. The only way you can truly guard, or keep, your heart is by keeping it open. By guarding AGAINST shutting it down. Because a heart that is open to love is a heart that CAN love. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. You have to let God love you before you can love Him back by loving others with that same love. You have to take care of what you've been given. But you can't take care of it by hiding it away. Bury it under a bushel? NO! I'm gonna let it shine. Love is for giving away. Because love IS giving. Life is for living. And you can't live without loving because living and loving are the same thing. You can't have one without the other. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. God has given us a gift. An inheritance. He has brought us into the family business and entrusted us with its care. So give what you've got. Be who you are. Let what's inside--the love of God--come out by knowing and believing that its in there!