Relationships

John 13:34 (CEB)
 
“I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other.
 
Stewardship is our ability to recognize that we are partakers in how to experience God in the world.  From our actions to our words, we look at the world through the lenses of our faith in Jesus Christ.  We are blessed not because we have more.  No, we are blessed because we look out for one another.  We are salty when we live for God’s glory.  We are light when we risk letting the light shine on us even when we do not necessarily want it to illuminate the things we would prefer to keep hidden.  The express invitation is to be a steward and know that our lives are not our own, sharing our gifts and graces and seeking to bless others as we have been blessed.  That is being a good steward.
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So how might we be good stewards in our relationships?  Recall that Jesus’ ministry is about a radical love shared between each other.  In Jesus’s view, love realizes that anger kills a relationship even before it can start.  Love sees each person, not as an object, but a child of God.  Jesus taught a love that values committing to each other even when it is hard.  Love speaks words of truth gently and patiently.  Love lets hatred and fear go because these do not lead to healthy relationships.  Love is robust enough to witness commonalities rather than differences.  These are ways to be good stewards of God’s radical love in Jesus.
 
Grace and Peace,
Rev. Brian