Stewardship in the eyes of a youngster
By Jofferson Jones Panos
“I don’t prefer plain rice. Can I have Java Rice miss instead? Bigyan mo na rin ako nang pinakamahal na cut na chicken. Pati na rin mango shake at chocolate mousse. Make sure that there would be lot of marshmallows and cookies sprinkled on it.” I felt an awkward shiver as I heard these words came out from my schoolmate’s mouth. I was stunned not only to the fact that she eats a lot of EXPENSIVE foods that five people can devour but also to the fact that she carelessly buys without the plan to scoff them all.
Spending all the money
It is rampant to catch a glimpse of careless teenager spenders these days. They buy anything they felt buying without pondering the hardships of their parents for their provisions. You say that this is not true for others who don’t have well-to-do parents but there are teens that came from impoverish families that spend the little money they have to play internet games and exploit drugs. I believe that is indeed vital for them to realize the proper way of handling their resources, May they be rampant or scarce. Many teenagers may not be aware of the negative connotation of “Consumerism” yet, most of them practice it. Quite obviously, many youngsters take great significance to material possessions. They are overly conscious on the latest trends and the brands of their get-ups. They prefer something labeled Abercrombie & Fitch, Dolce & Gibanna, Oxygen, Bench, Folded and Hung, Penshoppe, Artwork, Parker(for ball pens), and Apple or the Mac Book for laptops. After reading the listing above, others may even say that they’re not the “in” already or like “there’s something better than those”. I don’t care actually and I don’t really have an expertise in depicting the hottest trade names. Aside from that, there are also many young people that don’t handle well not only their tangible resources but also the intangible. They may not appreciate they’re opportunity to pursue studying, the effort of their parents for them to feel loved, or the gifts of talents God has freely given them. The keyword in this problem is the term “stewardship”.
The steward we ought to be
There are two kinds of stewards in the world. The first is the one who excessively and carelessly spends and uses resources without appreciating its real value. The other is the one who properly utilizes the blessings God has granted. They appreciate and also conserve for they know the resources’ benefits and limitations. As young people, or the young at heart, which are knowledgeable of God’s purpose for our lives, we ought to be the second type of Steward. The ways to show that you are a good Steward are endless. But the simplest advice I can impart is to count the blessings around us. Let’s not stop on just counting them. Let’s appreciate them and realizing their importance follows. After the realization, conservation follows. So that’s the cycle of Christ-like Stewardship.
Delving deeper
To give you an insight of my personal experience, I believe that I have been careless in spending the money I have before even though I don’t even have a great amount of money to start with. I have been obsessed in playing Online Computer Games. I spent the money intended for my ‘baon’ and school projects. It ended up fasting and failing grades for having an hour of temporary feeling of deceitful gratification and ecstasy while playing the game. Quite obviously, it’s not the Lord’s plan for me. He wanted me to be a good steward. Besides, my parents worked hard for them and God doesn’t want my parent’s hardship to end up in the money drawers of Internet Cafes.
The wisdom of Christ in handling God-given resources is truly our antidote not only to the common talk Global Financial Crisis but also in the personal crises in our lives. Let’s just seek God first and His righteousness in handling our resources and all the things we need will be added unto us. This can be the gist of Matthew 6:33 in an economical point of view
God does not want us to be good stewards for his own reservations but his doing this for my good, for your good, for our good. So, let’s count our blessings so that we can begin the process of good stewardship.
For the ‘sheltered’ and from those who came from the “well-to-do” family,