This month, we are tackling the topic of stewardship. In Greek, stewardship means “the management, oversight, administration, of other’s property (i.e.) the office of a manager or overseer.”
I hope you’re starting to see that stewardship is not about what belongs to you but how you handle what belongs to someone else. More specifically, how you handle what God has trusted you to manage of His. In this post, we will begin to unpack biblical stewardship.
In Luke 16:1-2 (NIV), Jesus tells His disciples the parable of a shrewd manager:
"Jesus told his disciples: 'There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'"
In the context of the Kingdom, the rich man is Jesus, and the manager is you (and I). Remember, Jesus spoke in parables to explain complex Kingdom principles.
But let’s take another look at verse 1 because the Scripture says the manager “was accused of wasting his possessions.” For someone to bring forth an accusation against you, they must have some insight into the rules and laws that should govern. Right?
So who is standing in the counsel of God accusing you?
The Bible tells us that our enemy is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). So what if your enemy, who has some standard or general knowledge of what you’re supposed to be managing on God's behalf, is standing before God accusing you?
Does he have the right to bring forth this accusation? Yes.
Why?
Because you're not operating by the rules.
If the Bible tells us that a causeless curse shall not stand (Proverbs 26:2), then this also means that a causeless accusation shall not bring forth a consequence. Yet, we see the result brought forth in verse 2.
The rich man (Jesus) strips the manager of his managing duties because he mismanaged His property. His accuser was right. Punishment had to be issued.
How do you feel when someone mismanages something that is yours? How do you feel if they don’t take care of something you’ve worked hard to secure and maintain?
You get upset, right? You may even stop trusting them in that area.
Now consider how Jesus might feel witnessing you mismanage His property. If the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, He has the legal right to allow or prevent you from sharing in the fullness because you’re wasteful.
Don’t be so arrogant to think that He’ll continue to give you more time to keep playing in His face and with His property; so much is at stake when you do this.
Decide to be a better steward so He will trust you more and with more.
Could it be that you don’t have more because you don’t know how to manage what you have?
Let's decide to do better.
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