Stewardship

Stewardship is an important concept we find throughout the Bible. It is the principle that what we have is not actually, truly ours. Everything we have has first been given to us through the grace and providence of God. Every good and perfect gift, James tells us, comes from above.

Usually, when Christians talk about stewardship, what is specifically in view is the way we use the money God has given us. But stewardship in a biblical sense includes a much wider range of things in our lives than just our money. Jesus tells a parable in the gospels about stewardship, where 3 servants are given different sums of money, each according to his ability. The master then returns to ask what each servant has done with what was given to them.

Immediately, we are forced to consider several things about our own lives. We trust that God gives to us according to his wise assessment, and this should cultivate contentment in our hearts about what we have. The reason you don’t have more is because God, in his wisdom, has determined that what you have right now in your life is enough for you to be faithful with. We are also led to consider just what exactly it is that God has given us, and therefore what we are to do with it. And this is where we should see that we have more to steward in our lives than just money—any good and perfect gift given to you by God is also a stewardship.

Any opportunity, any season of life, any task or blessing under your responsibility is a stewardship given to you by God. Your marriage is a stewardship. Parenting your kids. Your house. Your car. Your job. Your relationships. Your opportunities to serve and the time you have each day. All of this is given to you in the providence of God for you to steward for his purposes. What do you have that has not been given to you by God? In giving all these things to you, He expects something to come of them.

When we understand our lives this way, this should define the posture of our hearts every day. Every conversation. Every task is laid before us. Every time we are asked to serve others. All the opportunities we have laid before us are given so that we might wisely steward according to our abilities and turn them into something beneficial and fruitful.

And when we ignore this reality, we are like that third servant in the parable who buries what was given to him and gains nothing for the master. He isn’t met with understanding and leniency from the master. He is rebuked strongly, and even what little he has is taken from him. This can be a difficult truth to swallow, but it stands for us as a corrective warning, and should cause us to ask ourselves how we are stewarding all the things—the opportunities, the responsibilities, the relationships, the time— that the Lord in his wisdom has chosen to give us.