00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on episode 624 of the inspired stewardship podcast. My name is Joanne DME. I'm a Christian financial advisor. I'm the host of the dollar savvy podcast. And I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence, impact the world by using your time, your talents and your treasures to live out your calling. Find your path to financial freedom.
00:00:28 And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to my friend. Scott made her be inspired, stewardship podcasts. I guess the truth is Christianity is about community. If you aren't walking together, we can't do this solo. It's not about being the lone ranger Christian. And that's the, that's the part that's made it hard for me because I often want to lock myself in my room and study.
00:00:59 I I've read the Bible multiple times. I've done various Bible studies and done this thing online and that thing with a book. Welcome. And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling and the inspired stewardship podcast.
00:01:24 We'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world. In today's episode about investing in others, through stewarding your talent. I talk with you about recognizing the need for a Paul, a Barnabas and a Timothy in your life. I share what each role will serve in your life. And I reflect on how you can also fill those roles for others.
00:01:59 You've heard me talk about developing your talent and what are the best ways to do that is through books. But if you're like most people today, it's hard to find the time to read. And that's why today's podcast is brought to you by audible. Go to inspired stewardship.com/audible to sign up and you can get a 30 day free trial. There's over 180,000 titles to choose from.
00:02:25 And you can pick one and listen your way to developing your talents via audible. That's inspired stewardship.com/audible to get your free trial and listen to great books the same way you're listening to this podcast. One of those things that I've heard, you know, being around the church for a while. And we talked about this on Monday with Gary and I about this idea of having a Paul,
00:02:54 a Barnabas and a Timothy In your life. And I will be honest. This is an area where I have, I've actually struggled with this in the past this not because I don't believe that we need help. Not because I don't believe in surrounding myself by mentors, but just this concept of having three people that fill three roles in my life has been one I've struggled with.
00:03:21 I've usually had at least one of these things filled within my life, but seldom have I had all three at the same time. And honestly, I don't know that that's necessarily a bad thing or necessarily a problem. And I suspect based on conversations I've had with others, that I'm not the only one that struggled with that. So if, if this is one of those things where you hear it and you're like,
00:03:46 how can I fill all three of these roles in my life all at one time, I want to give you permission to actually just concentrate on one at a time, if that's what it takes to get you moving. But the idea of having these kind of three roles within your life is really important. So let's unpack a little bit more from what Gary talked about on Monday.
00:04:09 You know, Paul Paul is held up in the Bible is sort of this, this person who brought the church out and to the world in a very real way. Paul has looked at somebody who's very mature within the church. And you can argue about the accuracy of this, but that's what this idea is representing this ideas, representing somebody in your life who has a deeper understanding of spiritual things.
00:04:39 This is not just somebody that's been in the church a long time. It could actually even be somebody that's joined relatively recently, but it's somebody who has done a deep walk within the spirit. They they've got, uh, an older depth in faith. I will say that for me right now, Paul is actually being served by my pastor. I'm doing a Bible study with her,
00:05:03 where she's talking into my life about certain things. And she is serving that role of somebody who's walked faithfully with God, biologically she's younger than me, but spiritually, she's more mature than me. It's not about finding somebody who's been in the church 25 years because the truth is there are some people that have spent 25 years growing in their Christian walk. And there are some people who have spent the same year,
00:05:36 25 times. They just happen to be going to church while they do it. Another words that walk for them has been about growing in terms of their actual time spent. It's almost like they're, they're serving their time. That's not what you're looking for in this Paul position. You're looking for somebody that participates in the spiritual disciplines. You're looking for somebody who's made a study of spiritual things.
00:06:09 The second role is Barnabas. Barnabas is somebody who's kind of the thorn in your side for certain things. There are times that I have actually asked people to be a thorn. So for instance, I, despite the fact that I know better, I've gotten certain meetings where I forget to open in prayer or call upon the Lord. And so I've assigned somebody within the group to be my thorn,
00:06:38 to call me out for that. That's not really all what Barnabas is. It's the person that walks with you. That's making a study with you. It's the person that you sit down and you ask Bible questions. And sometimes you challenge their thinking. And sometimes they challenge yours. It's somebody who holds you accountable, who will be willing to send that message that says,
00:07:01 you know, have you read your Bible today? It's the person that challenges you to do better every day in your walk. And then the last one is Timothy. And what's funny. I always try to make this a Timothy into Thomas sometimes, but that's a, that's a different role. And maybe we should have a Thomas in our life as well,
00:07:22 but that's not what this particular role is talking about. This role is talking about a person that you turn to and you help guide along the road. It's the person that your pur pouring into with your spiritual walk. This is somebody who is teachable. This is someone who is eager to learn about what's going on and what you know about spiritual things. And you don't have to be a master at anything to be someone else's Paul you're there.
00:07:56 Paul and Timothy is receiving the guidance and you still have somebody ahead of you as well. So it, it kind of is passing down sometimes through generation. But oftentimes again, it's not about biological age, it's about spiritual maturity. So you're seeking out the people that are eager to learn so that you can serve as a Timothy. Here's the interesting thing.
00:08:24 When you fill these roles for someone else, when you find somebody in your, their Barnabas, they automatically are yours as well. And you're serving each other. When you find somebody in your circle who becomes your Timothy, then you are filling the role of appall. And if you find somebody who is appall, then you are filling the role for them of a Timothy.
00:08:50 So this circle interconnects, and you can actually have multiple people serving roles for different people. This is a way that we've over centuries, grown in faith together because the truth is Christianity is about community. If you aren't walking together, we can't do this solo. It's not about being the lone ranger Christian. And that's the, that's the part that's made it hard for me.
00:09:19 Cause I often want to lock myself in my room and study I've I've read the Bible multiple times. I've done various Bible studies and done this thing online and that thing with a book, but surrounding myself with community. That to me is often intimidating and hard and a little bit scary. So that's what I encourage you to do is open yourself up to this idea.
00:09:42 Find somebody who can be your POL, find somebody who can be your Barnabas, find somebody who can be your Timothy. And by doing that, you will begin to pour into others. Thanks for listening. Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling.
00:10:18 If you like this episode on the stewardship of talent, you can go over to inspired stewardship.com/talent and sign up for our five week series on the stewardship of talent. Or if you're in the U S you can text four, four, two, two, two talent tips, that's talent tips to four four, two, two, two, and get those tips until next time,
00:10:46 invest your time, your talent and your treasures, develop your influence and impact the world.