HOPE & LIGHT

In recent weeks, God has been speaking to me about being a better steward of my body. To get a better understanding of what stewardship is, I did a YouVersion Bible reading plan entitled Stewardship of Life, by Vijay Thangiah. Vijay Tbangiah has worked with India Youth of Christ for thirty-seven years and has been their National Executive Director for the last five years.

In his first devotional of this plan, he says the following.

“When we think about our life, we must realize that it does not belong to us but has been given to us by God who is our Creator. We are not our own creators, but God is our Creator. So if God is our Creator, we are only stewards and not owners.

But as soon as we think of the word stewardship, oftentimes we think only about money. But stewardship is more than money. It is managing our entire life.“

As I read this quote, the last six words stood out to me: Stewardship… is managing our entire life. As a woman who lives with a long list of chronic illnesses and who has lived with constant pain for over fifty years, I recognized I had not been doing the best job I could in managing this body God gave me. I began seeking God for understanding of how I could be a better steward of my body and even of my entire life.

Most of my readers also live with one or more chronic illnesses. The term Self Care is very familiar to those facing the challenges of chronic illness. But I had never seen self care in terms of being a wise steward over my body. I am definitely still a learner in this area, but God has shown me several areas which are keys to being a wise steward of my WHOLE LIFE, SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY.

Each of us are different, with different needs in our lives. Most of us face limitations because of our chronic illness(es), but the nature of those limitations varies. Each one of us is unique, there is no other you! But each of us were created in our mother’s wombs by God. He is our CREATOR.

Ask the Lord to show you the specific areas where He wants you to be a better steward of your life. Life is more than just our bodies; it includes our spirits, where (if you are a Christian) the Holy Spirit lives. And it includes our souls, which is basically our immaterial being. The three main areas of our soul are our mind and intellect, our will and choices, and our emotions. God’s Word instructs to renew our minds (Romans 12:2), to make wise choices (Proverbs 1:5), and to rule over our emotions (Ephesians 4:31-32).

I’m not going to share my personal list of the areas God has shown me where I need to be a better steward of my life, since each of us are individuals with varying needs. But I encourage everyone reading this blog post – even if you don’t live with the challenges of chronic illness – to take the time to go through this seven day devotional study and allow it to transform your idea of self-care.

To help you make your own Self Care list, I’m including a blank copy of the one I personally use. I chose this one because of the bottom section, which could be used for a variety of purposes use mine to track my days and hours of writing). There are many free or inexpensive Self Care Checklists online, both those listing self care tasks and others left blank for you to list what you feel God calling you to work on. I found this one by doing a search for “Free Self Care Checklists” and found many others to choose from that were either free or inexpensive.

A good place to start making the needed changes in this area of our lives is by acknowledging God as our Creator and giving Him praise for all He has done in our lives. Below is a song to help you take that initial step.

But don’t stop there. Our lives have been entrusted to us by God. Therefore, being a good manager means not just doing what is good for us personally. It means living for His pleasure and not just our own.

And to close with some good news. If you believe God is calling us to be better stewards of our lives, remember He doesn’t expect you and me to do this in our own strength. The following verses contain one of my favorite promises from God’s Word. What God calls us to do, He works in us to make us willing and to empower to do what He’s asking of us.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Philippians 2:12-13 ESV