A good Christian steward grows in humility

Spring is graduation and awards ceremony season. These are such exciting times, and we should all be proud of our young people’s accomplishments. It is not easy to watch our young people complete one chapter of their life and spread their wings into another. This is a time when we feel all the emotions; happy for their successes, sad to see them move away, excited to see the path God will lead them down next.
Through all this excitement it is our responsibility to keep them grounded in their faith and remind them they every gift they possess is from God. We should also remind them to listen to God for direction as they step into the next phase of their life. The Bible reminds us repeatedly that a good Christian Steward should humbly give God all the glory. 
“Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.” – James 4:10.
Our graduates are feeling the pressures of society to achieve fame, fortune and success, the driving forces in today’s secular world. There is nothing wrong with these things if we strive for them with grace and humility. However, fame, fortune and success do not necessarily lead to eternal happiness or spiritual fulfillment. The Bible teaches us that God wants us all to be happy, but that selfishness and pride can make that impossible. The Bible tells us to let go of our own pride and humbly striving to be the best version of ourselves.    
“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted” – Matthew 23:12.
To live a humble life, we should ask ourselves What Would Jesus Do? Yes, WWJD? Jesus would heal someone and then tell the people who witnessed it not to tell anyone. He had no intention of drawing attention to Himself. His focus was always on others. In doing so, He gave us the greatest gift we could ever receive, salvation!   
“He humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” – Philippians 2:8. 
As Christian stewards we are called to imitate Christ and recognize that God is the origin of life and the source of all things. It is a humbling realization to embrace the fact that all we are and all we have is a gift from a loving and gracious God. This naturally leads us to grow in humility. 
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” – Luke 14:11. 
­­— Shannon Roh is the Executive Director of the Office of Development and Stewardship for the Archdiocese of Mobile.