LEADERSHIP CAPSULE
committed to raising, and equipping leaders to ultimately fulfill the Great commission.....
Friday, December 02, 2016

TITLE : LEADERSHIP IS STEWARDSHIP 1
UNDERSTANDING PURPOSE & STEWARDSHIP

1 Peter 4 : 10 "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good steward of the manifold grace of God."

Luke 16:2 "And he called him, and said unto him, what is this I hear about you? give an account of your stewardship....."

The essence of human existence can be summed up in one word leadership. Every man is called to lead. You have been wired and engineered to lead. You were created for the purpose to lead. Why should you become a leader you ask? Because it is the calling of every man. Though we are called to be leaders, we cannot become leaders unless we know what a leader is and understand the dynamics of leadership. I believe there is a leader in you waiting to serve your generation. Your service is needed.

The subject of stewardship is one of the most important in the Bible, hence the need to have a good understanding of it. It is so important that Jesus, Paul and Peter spent some quality time teaching on the subject. I will like to start by sharing with you the purpose and the cornerstone of the call of God on your life.
Leadership is a unique discovery of one's personal purpose, gifting, role in life, sowing seeds that benefits others. Leadership is purpose, purpose is leadership. Life without an understanding of life's purpose leads to dillussion, confusion and emptiness. God wants you to discover why you were born so you can fulfill your purpose. Stewardship without an understanding of purpose is futile and a waste of time, energy and resources. A sense of purpose gives life meaning. It moves you beyond existence to a fulfilling and productive life.
Being a steward requires an understanding of your purpose and potential. As a steward, ignorance of your purpose robs you of your potential because it leads to abuse. When the purpose of a thing or man is not known abuse is inevitable. If you don't know your purpose as a steward, you will abuse your life. The word abuse is based on two words: abnormal and use. This means any time you don't know the purpose of something, you end up using it abnormally, which is abuse or waste of resources. God abhors abuse or abnormal use.

We must go back to the beginning and find out from the mind of God the purpose of our existence as stewards. This is crucial to understanding stewardship because the understanding of the beginning is the beginning of understanding. Let us lay a solid foundation for this teaching by reviewing our purpose.
Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes :

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter : Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

In this context the word fear mean to revere. This is man's duty. To revere God and to keep(do) His commandments. But the word duty has been grossly ignored. When we hear the word commandment, we ultimately think morality or the laws of Moses. Thou shall nots. We seldom think about the cornerstone of the call of of God and purpose for our lives found in Genesis where God said (commanded) to man:

Genesis 1:26-28
"Then God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion...So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them..And God bless them and said to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply, replenish, subdue and have dominion.

God's purpose for creating man is contained in these verses. Over the years that purpose has been neglected. Therefore, I call this the cornerstone of the call of God on your life. We cannot fully comprehend the subject of stewardship, the mission of Christ if we don't understand the connection between Genesis 1:28 and instructions of Jesus in Mathew 28:18-20. This is the great commission, this is the cornerstone of our calling as stewards. We are called to extend the influence of God to all part of the earth. This is summed up in leadership. You are called to lead!!!!
To be continued.....Thanks for reading!