Stewardship of life
As managers of God's world, we must care deeply about life itself and about all living things. God set all creation in motion. We are His stewards until He returns. Jesus is counting on us! Celebrate living and praise God for life... all life.
Do we place a high value on and show deep respect for all life? How does increased violence, even among teens, relate to this? How does a near worship of guns bear on the problems of our modern society? How does overpopulation affect the quality of life for children being born into those conditions? These are hard issues that need serious thought.
Learn more about some of these issues, below. Then decide what you, personally, can do and who you can influence to help address problems in these areas.
Death penalty
Read the Encarta Encyclopedia article (link below). Check out how the U.S. compares to other industrialized nations. Are we using the death penalty as vengeance? Do we do it because we don't know how to stop or cure anti-social behavior? Do we use the death penalty because we don't want to pay for imprisoning people for a long time? What should we do with violent criminals that we cannot cure?
ACLU (anti Death Penalty)
Respect for all life
Search the Internet using "respect for life" or "respect for all life". You'll find it almost exclusively devoted to anti-abortion (pro-life) advocates. Not that those sites are bad, but where do you find information, attention, and concern for the value of all of the life God created? Are we being arrogant stewards when we assume that humans are the only one of God's many creations that is important?
How can you help others realize the beauty and importance of all living things?
The amount and level of violence in today's world pierces the heart of the righteous. What can you, personally, do to help lessen violence?
How does stewardship of life relate with "care of God's earth"? Are some of God's creatures more deserving to live than others? Who should decide? Is it right for us to "play God"?