Biblical stewardship is as old as Creation itself. At the very onset, God made mankind in His image, in His likeness, so that mankind ‘may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground’ (Gen 1:26). Even after Adam and Eve’s sin and rebellion, this mandate of stewardship has not changed.
The Holman Bible Dictionary defines biblical stewardship as “utilizing and managing all resources God provides for the glory of God and the betterment of His creation”. And our resources refer to all our time, talent, and treasures.
Why does God want us to be biblical stewards?
Well, as God loves people, He would like us, His children, to show love to them with our time, talents and treasures. Taking the time to encourage someone feeling down; using our abilities to serve the church as an act of love; helping a beleaguered colleague at work; providing a meal for a hungry person; or using our talents and time at work to provide much-needed services for society matters to our God.
And exercising biblical stewardship allows us to demonstrate our obedience and submission to God, thereby showing our love for Him. In so doing, we acknowledge His ultimate ownership over everything that we have (Psalm 24:1). Instead of hoarding, gloating and boasting over what we have, we will accept our resources as a spiritual responsibility. As a result, our use of resources will be God-centred rather that self-centred. We will use them to serve God rather than self. Then, exercising biblical stewardship becomes a godly honour and privilege.
And our God will use our stewardship to shape and mould our character to be more like Jesus. While it is only right to use our resources to provide sufficiently for ourselves, we will also in wisdom, compassion and mercy put aside selfishness, see to the needs of others and refrain from demanding our rights. In doing so, God will empower us to see, feel for and empathise with the world through His spiritual lens…a world full of pain, suffering and travails… a world where we can make a difference for Him with our time, talents and treasures.
The question is: Will we?
May God show us how to exercise biblical stewardship and may we respond by obeying Him.