How can we apply stewardship into our New Year’s Resolutions?

By Shannon Roh
For The Catholic Week
The purpose of a New Year’s Resolution is to improve something in our life. Many New Year resolutions include diets, exercise, reducing screen time, more time in prayer, quality time with family, or saving money. All of these directly corollate with being a good steward in some way. God gives us many gifts to be a good steward of, such as: the gift of time, gift of talent and financial gifts. 
Stewardship is using the gifts God so generously gave us, to the best of our ability, to accomplish His will in our lives. Therefore, let’s look at our 2024 resolutions through a stewardship lens to reassess and recommit to living a Christian life. “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10).
When we wake up each morning, we are blessed with another day’s gift of time. Are we good stewards with our time? How should we adjust our time in prayer, with our family, at work, volunteering, to care for ourselves?
Our first resolution should be committing to daily time in prayer. There is nothing more important than cultivating a deeper relationship with God. Family is second only to God. Time with family often gets neglected in our busy lives. There are many ways to tackle this challenge. Start with a commitment to sitting down at the table for meals and attending Mass together. If you are feeling ambitious, you could find a special time with each family member each week or plan a special family outing once a month. When you are with your family, resolve to be present. For instance, when your spouse or child speaks, put down the phone, look at them and truly listen. 
 We are called to be good stewards of our talents. This means using our talents to the best of our ability to accomplish the will of the Lord. To do this, we need to take care of ourselves. After all, our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Without good health, we lack the energy we need to serve the Lord to the best of our ability. It would be a good resolution to make that doctor’s appointment, to make a healthy change in your diet, or to add exercise to our daily routine. 
 We are called to be good stewards of our financial gifts. We can be good stewards by prioritizing our budget — ensuring that the Lord is first — even in our finances. Did we increase our charitable contributions proportional to the bonus or salary increase we earned? “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with first fruits of all your produce” (Proverbs 3:9).
With God’s grace, we can accomplish all our New Year’s resolutions and with resolutions to be good stewards, we will be graced with a deeper relationship with God.
­­— Shannon Roh is the Executive Director of the Office of Development and Stewardship for the Archdiocese of Mobile.