In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

The most definitive statement one can make about the world is that everything belongs to God. As the creator and sustainer of all, God is the unquestioned owner of it all. Accordingly, God can do with it whatever he wishes. Scripture shows us God’s desire from the very beginning is for humanity to be the steward or caretaker of His creation. We read in Genesis 2:15 – “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” There’s no mention of a transfer of ownership or anything of the sort. God’s unchanging intention is that men and women will steward his creation.

The biblical principle of God’s ownership and our stewardship has several implications. First, our primary responsibility is to handle resources the way God desires and not as we may want. Sometimes, the two desires may be the same, but God’s will must prevail when they differ. This tug-of-war separates those who are all-in for God from those who just want to stick their toe in the water. Being all-in may still present its struggles, but there is more freedom in submitting to the Lordship of Christ.

Second, God is free to ask for his resources and in any amount he chooses. After all, it’s his stuff. We are simply privileged to take care of it. Just as we would expect a money manager to deliver our resources upon request, so God has the right to ask for his stuff. Those who’ve walked with God for a while know he sometimes asks at seemingly inopportune moments. In retrospect, though, we discover He graciously provided us with another opportunity to grow in our faith.

Finally, as stewards, we’ll be required to give an accounting for how we used God’s resources. God is interested in what we are doing with his property, and it’s only fair that we are called to account. When we die, the only thing we’ll take with us is a record of how well or how poorly we managed God’s possessions.

What about you? Does your life reflect the principle of God’s ownership and our stewardship? How so? What do the implications of this principle mean for you? Are you prepared to give an accounting of your stewardship?

“What does stewardship look like in our lives today?” This question must be asked to evaluate where our mindset is. Yes, stewardship can be applied in to how we use money for the glory of God, but looking further, stewardship is being responsible for the things that God has given us. To help further build a framework, we will begin unpacking this idea of stewardship through four important biblical principles throughout the month of September’s weekly daily devotions. Let’s begin to unpack the second important biblical principle:

Andrew Murray summed up stewardship in this way: The world asks, “What does a man own?” Christ asks, “How does he use it?

Stewardship – My Money Life with Chuck Bentley

2. The principle of responsibility.

In the beginning of Genesis, God created everything and puts Adam to work in the garden to take care of it. Relating this to our lives, Adam’s purpose is our current duty to fulfill. Since God owns everything, we are obligated to carry out the will of the father. For owners have rights and stewards have responsibilities. We must understand that when God blesses us with abundance, the abundance creates more of a responsibility to handle what God has given us. What has God given you that you are responsible for?

To discover what the Bible says about stewardship, we start with the very first verse: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). As the Creator, God has absolute rights of ownership over all things, and to miss starting here is like misaligning the top button on our shirt or blouse—nothing else will ever line up. Nothing else in the Bible, including the doctrine of stewardship, will make any sense or have any true relevance if we miss the fact that God is the Creator and has full rights of ownership. It is through our ability to fully grasp this and imbed it in our hearts that the doctrine of stewardship is understood.

The biblical doctrine of stewardship defines a man’s relationship to God. It identifies God as owner and man as manager. God makes man His co-worker in administering all aspects of our life. The apostle Paul explains it best by saying, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9). Starting with this concept, we are then able to accurately view and correctly value not only our possessions, but, more importantly, human life itself. In essence, stewardship defines our purpose in this world as assigned to us by God Himself. It is our divinely given opportunity to join with God in His worldwide and eternal redemptive movement (Matthew 28:19-20). Stewardship is not God taking something from us; it is His method of bestowing His richest gifts upon His people.

You see, stewardship is the God-given responsibility to manage His property. We’re not the owners, we’re only temporary managers. How seriously we take that role will determine if we’re faithful or unfaithful stewards. Few people truly understand how serious stewardship is. It impacts our eternal destiny. 

Stewardship- Money Life with Chuck Bentley