What is stewardship and how does it relate to you? When is the last time you’ve heard stewardship been preached on at your church? It’s probably been a while hasn’t it? Do you even know what Biblical stewardship looks like? There’s good reason for that. It’s a topic that makes a congregation uncomfortable and many pastors simply avoid the issue.
I’m here to talk a little about why this is the wrong approach and that stewardship actually is freedom as a Christian. When I say freedom, I don’t mean retiring early and moving to the tropics and sipping mojitos as your live the rest of your last days playing bingo. I’m talking about a mentality. This mentality has everything to do with who you believe your money belongs to.
Reality check people, you money does not belong to you! It belongs to God. Let’s check out a conversation God has with his Jewish people:
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, How are we robbing you?In tithes and offerings. You are under a curseâ”your whole nationâ”because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” -Milachi 3:8-10
These are serious allegations. God takes tithing very seriously and we need to too. Everything we own is His. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we will realize that the more we give the greater miracles and lives will be transformed.
Once in a while, I sit back and ask God about my giving and when I do this, I usually get challenged to give more. God does not promise to make you rich by giving more of your money, but He does promise to transform and save lives through your financial resources. And that’s the beginning of answering the question: what is stewardship. is it really what we were taught it should be?
I first started this blog to help people reach what I’m trying to reach, financial freedom. What does this mean for a Christian? My goal is to retire as early as possible (sights set on 60). No, not, not to go on vacations and sail around the world… Rather, to give more of my time and resources. As of now, I work 50+ hours a week. This takes away from time I could be serving and/or sharing the Gospel. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could take those 50 hours and use them specifically for His kingdom? Now, I’m not saying those hours aren’t glorifying to God. They are, I’ve had great conversations with co-workers and friends. But it would be amazing to dedicate my time to full time ministry.
In closing, ask yourself if you are spending time on what’s important? Can you answer the question, what is stewardship? Are you seeking a balance between fun/work and things that really matter? Are you impacting the future generation? Do you spend time with family? Do you give your money away joyfully? These are questions I have to ask myself on a daily basis.
So what practical steps are you going to take to live out Biblical stewardship?! Comment below.
Don’t tithe because you feel you have to. Tithe joyfully in faith knowing God is going to do great things with that money. Do it as an expression of your love for Him. Are you still asking, “what is stewardship?”
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