1. Time 2. Spouse 3. Job
4. Talents 5. Children 6. Community
7. Assets 8. Parents
9. Bills 10. Neighbor
11. Body 12. Church Callings
Now that I have accepted these stewardships, I seek constant divine guidance in carrying them out. For example, I receive a call from the High School that my teenage son has been kicked out of the school for cheating. What is my paradigm going to be? This son belongs to belongs to Heavenly Father. He has given me a stewardship to bring him into the world and help him return home. Heavenly Father has all the solutions to all problems, therefore, I will turn to Him for guidance. As I pray, I seek to get the beam out of my own eye, so I can be an instrument in the hands of Heavenly Father, who is concerned about this son.
If I am temporally focused, when the high school calls, I would do an upset by focusing on what my son did wrong, my embarrassment as a parent, and then I would try to make the son feel the same as I feel. Since I have lost the Spirit, when the son walks in I will reject him by preaching to him. All of which is destructive for the short term and the long term relationship.
My neighbor borrowed my lawnmower, and when he returned it I discovered it no longer is working. Since I see all things spiritually, I know that this is an opportunity for me to grow spiritually. I see the lawn mower as belonging to Heavenly Father, therefore, I immediately pray about this situation. You see, it makes no difference to me whether we fix His lawn mower from His funds in my bank account, or if we use the funds from the neighbors account. If I initially do an upset (temporal focus), the first requirement is for me to get the beam out of my eye. Once I have no need to correct the neighbor, the Lord may inspire me to approach the neighbor to see if he will accept responsibility to repair it. If the neighbor says yes, all is well. If the neighbor says no, I am prepared to handle that response, because I have no need to win.
Some people would question this approach by saying, "But you are not teaching your neighbor to accept responsibility for his actions. You are letting others use you."
The response to that statement, is one of spiritual focus. Everything that happens to me is designed for my spiritual growth. Once I learn to handle any event, circumstance as Christ would, then I am prepared to help others in their stewardships, if so directed by Heavenly Father. By the same token, if the neighbor wanted to borrow Heavenly Father's lawn mower again, I would seek divine guidance, since I am accountable to Him in how I carry out my several stewardships.
Most people have no problem giving the Bishop the money to fix the Wards lawn mower if so asked (and if they have the money). Even if the reason it needed repairing, is because the same neighbor who borrowed and is responsible for its not working. Why doesn't this seem to bother me as much as when the neighbor borrowed my lawn mower? IT IS CALLED STEWARDSHIP. The wards lawn mower belongs to the Lord. My lawn mower belongs to me. If you ruin something that belongs to me, you must pay! Why? Because if I let you get away with it, I lose and you win. And I do not like to lose.
When I do it the Lord's way, I always win. Even if the neighbor doesn't decide to repair it and I have to do it, I still win. How? The neighbor won temporally and I won spiritually. I use the problem to pray, to seek Heavenly Fathers help, and to carry out the assignment to glorify Him. I did not let the neighbor's attitude or decisions divert me from a spiritual focus. I am able to rejoice, regardless of the outcome because I was steadfast in Christ during the entire interaction. It was a spiritual growth experience for me. By the same token, the neighbor lost spiritually because he did not choose to use the situation to grow spiritually. He only saw the situation temporally.
Some years ago, a good friend of mine went home teaching, him and his companion arrived on time after parking the car in the driveway. When inside, the brother asked if we could watch their son while he ran over to the church to get his wife. A few moments later, he came upstairs with some excitement. He was so embarrassed, because he had electronically lifted the garage door and as he drove his four wheel drive vehicle into the smaller ford escort parked in the driveway.
He said, "Brother Cox, I am so sorry for smashing your car. I didn't see it. I did not know it was behind my car." My friend replied, "Brother I do not have a car, you did not hit my car."
It took him a few moments to remember the many discussions they had had on seeing all things spiritually and on the subject of stewardships. You see, he had no emotional attachment to that car, since he had already resolved the issue that it was Heavenly Father's car. He had accepted a stewardship assignment to take care of it for Him, but He could let anyone run into it that He wanted. Heavenly Father could have inspired my friend to park it on the street, but He did not.
He also believe that this accident was for his spiritual growth. Heavenly Father allowed it to happen to he would handle the event. This was my opportunity to see if he really believed in the law of consecration and stewardship. He was able to rejoice from this accident because from the time the car was hit, and through the process of repairing it and getting the insurance company to pay and our only having one car for a time, he kept spiritually focused. What a great laboratory this earth life is for us all learn how to overcome the world by being steadfast in Christ.
HOW CAN ONE LEARN TO ENJOY EACH DAY IF HE DOES NOT SEE ALL THINGS SPIRITUALLY?
Or how can one at least make the day worthwhile without walking with an eye of faith? The car incident mentioned above was worthwhile because of seeing it spiritually from when it all began until it was over and resolved. If my good friend would have been temporally centered, the accident would have been a burden on him.
Orsan Pratt said, "Covetousness is that which leads to ownership." (J.D. 126:5) If one takes ownership for his children, his spouse, his finances, his mind, his body, and his happiness, he has chosen to rely on himself for their achievement. His focus becomes temporal. There may be some spiritual seeking, but the load is on the man. He sees his happiness, his success, his very life, dependant upon temporal achievements.
If man recognizes that he is a steward over these areas of life, then he will focus unto the spiritual world for instruction, guidance, and strength. For it was never intended that man should walk alone upon this earth. It is the Savior's mission to help us overcome this world and gain eternal life.
A person who yells at his family has an ownership problem. When his children perform well, he is proud, and he feels he had done well as a parent. When the child does poorly, he feels worthless, upset, and condemns himself for not being a good parent. A parent who sees the child as a stewardship assignment will feel bad when the child makes a mistake, but then he prays to get himself in tune to carry out the stewardship assignment of helping the child learn from his mistakes. Since he has chosen to be steadfast in Christ, he is able to truly help the child have learning experience and grow spiritually from the event.
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