Stewarding Your Best Life

It might seem easy to know what’s good. After all, we know what’s bad, right? Murder,drunkenness, hatred, adultery, jealousy, gossip and so on. These are bad. But just becausesomething isn’t bad, does that mean it’s automatically good? I want to show you how Godmeasures “good” so you can expect in advance to hear “well done, good and faithful servant.”You might be surprised at what good actually means to God!

MORE THAN “GOOD ENOUGH”

Every time God worked in Genesis, He looked at His own work and called it good. It’s kind oflike He graded Himself. Since He is God, we know His work was perfect. So, when God alsoobserves His servants as good—the same good He called His own work—He meanssomething other than “good enough.”

This word good has a lot of meaning. It stems from the Greek word agathos, meaning good,right, honorable, generous, better, useful, helpful and pleasant. This is how God thought of His own work, and it’s what He wants out of our efforts too. I am so proud and blessed to be a mother. Each time I gave birth and saw my newborn child, I knew I had done a good thing. Sure, lots of women have children, but I had tried for five yearsto have a child. I would cry each month when I knew I wasn’t pregnant. I would cry at baby showers. I kept getting prophecies that I would have children. I said, “I don’t want anotherprophecy about children. I want a child!” God is good; He gave me the desire of my heart andgave me not one but four children.

When God gave me children, He was generous, it was right, and it made my life better. Most ofthe time they were even useful, helpful and pleasant. Being a Mother showed me God is good.It also shows me how I can be good with them if I raise them in a way that fits His style ofbeing right and honorable, useful and helpful. When God looks for “good” in us, He looks tosee that we improve upon what we have, what He’s already given us, to the best of ourabilities.

THE HIGHEST GOOD

As amazing as these qualities are, they’re not the greatest form of “good.” There’s onedefinition of good that trumps all the others. Paul said that “there is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12). And Jesus said “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One,that is, God” (Mark 10:18). Jesus knew God Himself is the only measure of good.

The highest and most important application of good is being conformed to the image of JesusChrist. Jesus was the image of God and “God manifest in the flesh.” True goodness is only inGod. So, if we want to really be good, we need to pull on God’s goodness to be alive andactive in our lives. This will enable God to say, “well done, ‘good’ steward.”

CONCLUSION

To be a good and faithful servant is not to be the greatest preacher, or to be well known, or tobe the most successful. It’s to be successful in stewarding your life properly. And the proper way to steward your life is to become Christlike in all areas. To the extent that God sees Christin our lives is the extent we’ll hear “well done, good and faithful servant and we will be wisestewards of our lives.”

Sherilyn Hamon-Miller

Purchase Sherilyn’s new book, Stewarding Your Best Life, here.