The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.

Do we own our possessions?

No, we do not. The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it. That includes your three cars, 3000 sq. ft. house, pool in the backyard, designer jeans, your money. They all belong to God, not you. So how are you going to use them for His purposes? I might need to post some scripture on determining God's purposes! For now, let me recommend a book for women called “Pathway to Purpose for Women” by Katie Brazelton, and it's companion volume “Praying for Purpose for Women”.

And lest you think this is a bid for you to give all your money and possessions to the church, think again. There are many ways to serve God's kingdom. Not all of them include the church organizational structure as we know it. And not all of them require giving money. Everything on and in the earth is God's. Sometimes people are asked to give time or talents, or to open their home or belongings to their fellow Christians for awhile. There are many ways to serve God's kingdom.

Being hospitable and charitable are two keys to working for God's kingdom. You help individuals, who may or may not know God, and they then come together to fellowship and learn more about God. Eventually, hopefully, ending up in a good church home before going home to God.

I was not taught how to be hospitable. My mother was ill during my formative teen years and not able to pass on knowledge she did not have. Her own mother had died when she was a young teen. I found books by Emilie Barnes (thank-you Michelle!), Elizabeth George, and Edith Scheaffer to be helpful in teaching me Christian hospitality.

Knowing that everything is really God's encourages me to look on my possessions and the people in my life differently. They are not mine, but rather God's. My possessions are on loan. Any relationships I have need to be built around God. As such, my job is as caretaker, not owner or hoarder of stuff and relationships.

That requires me to take a step back and think how I can take care of these things for God. From the bible I learn that I need to be a kind and caring caretaker. That I need to practice the fruits of the spirit in relationships (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control). That I need to be able to separate myself from my possessions. I need to be open to hearing and assessing other's needs...to giving to the poor.

I saw a wonderful example of this recently. I wrote earlier in my blog about my minister selling some gorgeous 100% Egyptian cotton towels to me to give to my dad for his wedding gift. I did pay for them, but I paid far less than they were worth. It was all I had on me. Paul was not in favour of me attending the wedding, so was not forthcoming with any family money for the gift. The minister, for her part, had bought them for company. They'd never been used, and she was moving. It was easy for her to see them as excess baggage to be given away...items on loan from God.

This young woman was far more generous with her gift than I was in return. Not long after the towel experience, I had her looking over Mom's spiritual book collection, to find out if any of it was any good. She picked out several books she'd like to have. While my intent was not to give anything away at that point in time, I wish I had. I am looking at donating the books to the church library instead, as our minister has now moved away and I have reached the point where I can part with them.

We are all works in progress. I have pulled examples from the area of possessions. There are people in real life who could say I am a bad example of fruits of the spirit from my relationships too. I am learning. I am very upset with the behaviour of some family members. I balance the fruit of the spirit against righteous anger (and not so righteous!) every day. We all need to be aware of our failings, and understand that there is hope for us...because Jesus died on that cross for us, for our sins. We continually ask for forgiveness and help to start over again. Our sins are why we need Jesus.