One day in my prayer time, God said to me, “Be a good steward of the anointing on your life.” A steward is responsible for managing, supervising, or protecting something that belongs to someone else. The anointing is the power of God at work in people’s lives.
The greatest example of stewardship was Jesus. He was an excellent steward of God’s call on His life. He fulfilled that call to the end, and He did it by the power of God, the anointing, working through Him (John 19:28-30).
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19, NKJV).
When Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to earth, He passed on that same calling and anointing to us.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:15-18, NKJV).
God, in His goodness, didn’t expect Jesus or us to do what He called us to do in our own ability. He enabled us with His power. Without it, we would not succeed at what He has called us to do because it’s beyond our own ability to bring about the supernatural in people’s lives. We need His power, and He graciously supplied it.
The Great Commission is our spiritual calling. But we’re also called and anointed to the natural things on earth that we may not consider very spiritual. But when God calls us to do something, it is very spiritual because it originated in the heart of God for a spiritual purpose. The natural calling could include being a spouse, parent, teacher, politician, or businessman or woman. Because it is God’s purpose for us, He will, like the Great Commission, anoint us to fulfill our assignment.
On the other hand, if we try to step out of our assignment and do things that He hasn’t told us to do, the power won’t be there. It will be a struggle because we’re doing it in our own strength. The key is to always stay within the will of God so His anointing will always be present to enable us.
In that same prayer time, God gave me three things to do as a steward of His anointing:
Value It
If we value the anointing, we will treat it like a treasure. It will hold an important place in our lives and receive our attention. Unlike the servant who buried the money given to him by his master, we won’t just shove it under a bed or in the back of a closet (Matthew 25:14-30). We will thank God for it consistently because it’s a gift from our Creator.
Protect It
Our next responsibility is to protect the anointing. As a heavenly treasure, the devil in many ways may try to steal it or mar its purity (John 10:9, 10). This can come in the form of sin, distracting relationships, bad habits, or unbiblical beliefs. It’s our responsibility to recognize those damaging distractions and remove them before they taint our anointing.
Share it
Like the Gospel, our anointing was meant to share with others. That empowerment enables us not only to lead people to salvation, but to impact their lives on earth for the better. God’s anointing gives us power and wisdom to train our children, love our spouses, and bless the people affected by our businesses. Every natural action impacts the world around us with spiritual blessings. We just need to choose to operate daily through that anointing.
Not one part of our lives is to go unaffected by the anointing. The Holy Spirit lives on the inside of us when we are born again. And when we receive His infilling, another dose of power is given to us (Acts 1, 2). We are constantly carrying that anointing wherever we go. Whether we feel it or not, we are powerful, not powerless.
What it all comes down to is faithfulness. God is looking for people who will possess the quality of loyalty and trustworthiness toward His call and the anointing that comes with it. Our goal should be to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, NKJV).
Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2, NKJV).
Christa Madrid 