God has given us a beautiful world to enjoy and much natural beauty simply to receive. But we’re also charged with bringing more life and goodness into the world and this requires our wise and active stewardship. We have the responsibility to cultivate the good and bring about God’s best throughout our life and relationships.
For instance, children need their parents to raise them. Their natural potential is not enough to develop the maturity needed to navigate and thrive in life. And left on their own – things quickly become destructive and chaotic. But through the sacred duty of parenthood– instructing, correcting, and guiding them in the way they should go – kids can reach their potential and flourish.
And this holds true in the rest of life as well. Whether it’s our marriage or friendships, work, communities, and society, caring for the environment at large or simply landscaping our backyard, we have a duty to play our part in bringing out the best in all these areas. And this requires our active engagement.
Of course, like with parenting, we can become overinvolved and suffocate the things we care for. Selfishness and pride can also easily get mixed in, as we become more concerned about pushing our own agenda rather than reflecting and bringing about the good God intends.
But these dangers should not cause us to neglect our responsibilities. While there’s much in this life not as it should be, perhaps we’ve allowed more suffering than necessary because of our neglect and mismanagement.
This is not to suggest we can do enough to recreate Eden in this life. Thorns and thistles will remain. But maybe through our faithful stewardship we can reveal more of God’s glory and goodness in the world.
In the end, we were not created to take a hands-off approach to life. We have the responsibility to be wise and loving stewards – actively cultivating and bringing out the best in life and in our relationships.
Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash
