Written by Dynamis Ministries | May 19, 2022
Stewardship is like a man who borrowed a neighbor’s truck to transport some of his family’s possessions as they moved from one house to another in town. To minimize the distance in lugging some heavy boxes and bulky furniture from their sold house, the man backed the truck on his lawn to gain closer access to the front door. Overlooking the effects of the previous night’s rainfall, the truck’s tires sunk in the soft grass creating ruts and then spinning mud all over the truck as he pulled away. En route to the new house, the truck got a tire blowout from a pothole. Understandably discouraged and still dripping sweat from lifting boxes and furniture, the man put on the spare tire and finished the move.
Before returning the truck the now weary man took a slight detour. He stopped at the hardware store and bought some dirt and sod to level and patch the disturbed lawn of his previous home. He then went through a car wash to clean the mud off the dirty truck, filled the tank with gas and got the tire replaced before returning the truck to his neighbor. While he was battling some frustration with everything he had to go through, he also felt good about doing the right thing and taking care of what he was entrusted. Among the many ways this man could be characterized like hurried, responsible, unlucky or resourceful, there is another that could be easily overlooked – stewardship.
Stewardship is the act of taking care of something that is entrusted to one’s care, and it is a recurring theme in the Bible. Why would it matter to take care of anything beyond what benefits the owner? It is because from a Christian perspective, everything we have comes from God, and he has expectations for how we steward what he has given us. This cannot be stated more clearly when 1 Chronicles quotes David in saying:
“Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!” (1 Chronicles 29:14)
Acknowledging that everything we have is ultimately from God is an important step in growing our generosity potential because it changes the way we view our gifts, resources and time. Our income is no longer ours, it’s a gift from God that we must manage. Our unique abilities such as craftsmanship, teaching or leadership are given to us to benefit others. Even our time is a gift from God that we must use wisely in care of our families and the world. With this understanding we can begin to see how stewardship and generosity are closely linked.
Ultimately, stewardship is maintaining and managing everything God provides so that it can be used generously for God’s glory. In the parable above, the man exemplified stewardship by taking good care of what he was given. This enabled him to be generous too as he blessed others by going the extra mile in leaving things in better condition than he received them. As we go about our lives, how can we also take care of the things God has given us so they can be generously used to bless others?
Maybe we can manage our time in more efficient ways so we can invest in new or existing relationships, or possibly cultivating a unique skill set that God has blessed us with. Or we can look for opportunities to use our natural abilities in ways that serve others instead of only serving ourselves. Even still, some of us may feel convicted to manage God’s money wisely, such as refraining from frivolous spending, so that we can invest in the Kingdom of God. God has proven himself generous to us, let’s respond by stewarding those gifts in generous ways for others!
