Walking In God’s Favor: When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 1Corinthians 13:11 NLT
Discipline & self-control helps to develop your character.
Moving from a Level 1 Stewardship life of struggle to Level 2 Stewardship the life of stability is an individual choice. Many of you cannot see yourselves maturing from Level 1 Stewardship a life of struggle into Level 2 Stewardship a life of stability; therefore you remain in a life struggle.
Level 2 faithful stewards learn to live on a budget and give their money a mission. But more importantly, Level 2 faithful stewards are accountable to God. The Level 2 faithful steward has learned to say “no” to the person in the mirror.
Can you say no, to the person in the mirror?
One of the keys that differentiate Level 1 Stewardship the life of struggle from Level 2 Stewardship the life of stability is the will to delay immediate gratification for long-term goals. One sign of spiritual maturity is the will to choose long-term goals over short-term gain.
I clearly remember our parents teaching us the connection between work and money. As a kid, they would give my two younger brothers and me money for doing chores like cutting the grass, raking leaves or washing the car. As soon as I received my money, I would run down to the corner grocery store to spend every penny I had earned on Chinese Sweet & Sours Balls, Red Hots, banana flavored Now & Laters, and my favorite, Hostess Chocolate Twinkies.
My parents would comment how I had holes in my pocket when they observed how quickly I spent my money. They found teachable moments to encourage me to save. They planted seeds of wisdom like ”Money don’t grow on trees” in my life. My parents were the first teachers who sowed into my life the importance of work ethics and saving money.
With self-discipline, you increase your possibilities.
My truth is, even today as an adult I struggle with the desire to spend money I don’t have, to buy things I don’t need, to impress people I don’t know. That desire to spend money grew into an uncontrollable desire to have wealth without going through the process of developing the discipline necessary to manage wealth.
In order for you to move to Level 2 Stewardship a life of stability you are going to have to go through the process. It’s your choice. You have the ability to become a better steward of your wealth. We are living examples that God will empower your life to do that which you cannot on your own, do for yourself. Remember keep praying, keep believing, with God all things are possible.
You are invited to listen to our Facebook LIVE Stream Sunday 3pm May 12th. Our discussion will center around life lessons we learned from our mothers. Our guest panelist is Melonie Gurley, JF Drake State Community & Technical College and Ray Allister, Huntsville Inner City Learning Center.
Michael J. Vance is the founder of Stewardship Of Wealth.com and a financial & benefit-risk manager with Hundley Batts & Associates Insurance Agency Ardella Vance volunteers her time, talents, and financial resources to causes she is passionate about. She is a gifted educator and a Master Guide in the Pathfinders Club, a global organization empowered to teach life and leadership skills to young people. The Vance’s have been married over 4 decades and share their lives with four adult children and ten grandchildren. They currently reside in Huntsville Alabama, and blog from their Stewardship Of Wealth financial guide “Changing Your Family Tree”.
SOW Blog 