Devotional : Stewardship

Stewardship as a theological belief, means that humans are responsible for the world and should take care of it. In Christian tradition stewardship also refers to the way time, talents, material possessions, or wealth are used or given for the service of God. In Biblical worldview, it can defined as utilizing and managing all the resources God provided for His glory and the betterment of His creation.

Stewardship begins and ends with the understanding of God’s ownership of all. The following bible verses elaborate this:

• “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 22:13)

• “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1)

• “To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.” (Deuteronomy 10:14)

• “The land must not be sold permanently because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.” (Leviticus 25:23)

• “Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.” (Job 41:11)

Our life is gift from God and it is our responsibility to be good stewards of what he has given us. The best way to be good stewards is to have a servant steward attitude. Humility is the foundation of this type of servant leadership (Philippians 2:5-11). It is also important that we discover and know our gifts or talents ( I Peter 4:11).

Upon discovering, we should utilize these gifts or talents to serve others and hone it to the best of our abilities. We should always put in mind the lessons from the parable of the talents taken from Matthew 25:14 to 30. It tells that God owns everything. He desires us to be faithful managers. He will hold us accountable for all His resources. When He returns, He will reward those who obeyed and worked for His glory.

This becomes a call for us to re-examine our lives and figure – what kind of faith we have. Are we nurturing our personal relationship with God? Stumble on our steps? Are we good followers of Christ? Have we been using His resources for His Glory?