Stewardship Defined: How to Become a Better Steward
Stewardship is a key principle for believers who want to experience the fullness of everything available to us in the Kingdom of God. Being a good steward involves a mindset which reflects how we relate to material things. It also has a huge impact in how we relate to people too.
Most Christians long to hear those precious words from the Lord as they step into eternity, “Well done!”
According to Jesus, how well we steward what God gives us in this life determines whether we receive this greeting in the next. He told us so in multiple parables.
Since stewardship so important, let’s start by defining the term. Then we’ll look at what the Bible has to say on the subject. Finally, we’ll give some practical recommendations on how we can become better stewards in God’s Kingdom.
Definition of Stewardship
The obvious place to start when looking to understand the meaning of a word is a dictionary. Here is the definition dictionary.com currently gives for stewardship:
- the position and duties of a steward, a person who acts as the surrogate of another or others, especially by managing property, financial affairs, an estate, etc.
- the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving.
Basically a steward oversees and something that belongs to someone else. That means stewardship is related to both ownership and management. A steward does not actually own what he is responsible for. Instead, he manages and protects the thing for the proper owner.
One reason stewardship is so important for believers is because the Bible is very clear that everything on earth belongs to God. For example,
The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,
— Psalms 24:1 (NKJV)
The world and those who dwell therein.
The fact that God owns it all is the reason stewardship is such an important concept for followers of Jesus. Because God owns everything, He is the rightful owner of everything in our possession.
Working Definition
Even though dictionary definitions are the right place to start when understanding words, from my perspective that definition leaves a little to be desired. I like to break things down to a more practical level to help understand the concepts better. Plus, we look at things from a Biblical perspective as believers.
Based on what I see in the Bible, here is a working definition of the term:
Biblical stewardship is about managing what God entrusts to our care with an eternal Kingdom perspective so that we leave what He gives us in better condition than we we received it.
New Testament References
We see stewards mentioned several times in the New Testament. Here are some examples.
“So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’
— Matthew 20:8 (NKJV)
and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.
— Luke 8:3 (NKJV)
And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
— Luke 12:42
He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’
— Luke 16:1-2 (NKJV)
Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
— 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 (NKJV)
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)
Jesus Teaches Stewardship
In Luke chapter twelve, Jesus shared a parable revealing the blessings of being prepared for His return. Peter then asks if the parable was meant for everyone, or just the disciples.
In answering Peter’s question, Jesus reveals the importance of stewardship.
And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.”
— Luke 12:42-44 (NKJV)
Jesus next says punishment awaits the servant who abuses others while feeding his own fleshly appetites.
Jesus says this is our take-away lessong from this parable: “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12:48).
According to Jesus, when we step into eternity we will be held responsible for managing what God has entrusted us in this life and sharing it with others. The more we have been given, the more we will be accountable for how we used that to bless others. We are especially called to bless those in the Kingdom of God. Jesus is particularly interested in how we treat those of “His household,.” according to that passage.
This is what Biblical stewardship is all about. It’s allowing the blessings God so graciously bestows on us to overflow and bless others too.
Stewardship of Your Inheritance
As we explained above, one reason for us to be good stewards is because the Bible reveals that everything on earth belongs to God. Many understand that to mean that because everything belongs to God, therefore we don’t have any ownership and stewardship is the best we can expect.
But that’s only partially true.
Yes, everything on earth belongs to God. Even so, God adopted us into his very own family as His sons and daughters the moment we believed in Jesus. Then He went even further by making us joint heirs with Jesus!
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
— Romans 8:16-17 (NKJV)
The truth that we are joint heirs with Jesus begs a question: what is our inheritance?
It’s a huge question and the full answer is beyond the scope of this article. The short answer is our inheritance must include the things Jesus inherits. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be joint heirs with Jesus.
Hebrews 1:2 reveals that the Father appointed Jesus, “heir of all things.” That’s a pretty big starting point for our own inheritance, then!
Paul goes into more detail about our inheritance in the book of Galatians. He wrote that book specifically to confront the error of mixing in trying to keep the Old Testament Law with the New Testament grace of God.
To help explain one of the purposes of the Law, Paul uses the example of a child that has received an inheritance.
Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.
— Galatians 4:1-2 (NKJV)
The part I want to highlight at the moment is that the child, which represents us now in Christ, is “master of all.” The NIV states it even more plainly by saying, “he owns the whole estate.” Paul goes on in that same passage to reiterate our sonship and inheritance in Christ.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
— Galatians 4:6-7 (NKJV)
Therefore we can see that even though God does indeed own the whole earth and everything in it, He sovereignly chose to leave it to us as part of our inheritance in Christ. It is part of ‘the whole estate” which makes up our joint inheritance with Jesus.
That means you do indeed have ownership of all God blesses you with in your possession. It’s like you’ve joined the family business. Now you have joint ownership of everything your Father and older brother Jesus own.
This is another powerful motivator for us to exercise good stewardship because it is how we take good care of those things which now belong to us in Christ.
Stewardship Protects Your Heart
Finally, we should note one additional benefit of godly stewardship, which relates to our heart. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul points out that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil,
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
— 1 Timothy 6:10 (NKJV)
Money is not the only root of evil in our world, but it is one of the biggest. For example, it’s one of the big three dangers that John warns us about in 1 John 2:16 — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. I’ve heard messages which boil those three down to the dangers of, “girls, gold, and glory.”
That alliteration seems a bit exclusionary to me, as if women never face sexual temptation. But I digress.
Regardless of whether we think of it as greed, lust for gold, or the love of money, the end results are the same. When we succumb to the love-of-money temptation, we head out onto a road of many sorrows.
Some see that danger and think the answer is to forsake money completely and choose poverty instead. But that approach both misses the point of what Paul was getting at and fails to address the root problem.
Besides, any fair reading of the Bible very clearly reveals that God’s blessings include abundance. It’s true of His people in the Old Testament. And it is also true of His adopted children and joint heirs with Jesus in the New Testament, for those who are willing to believe it.
Fortunately, Paul provides the true solution just a few verses down in the same chapter where he warns us about the love of money,
Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
— 1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NKJV)
That passage is a good picture of what stewardship looks like for those of us in the Kingdom of God. We look to God as the source of our provision, not to our money. Again, a big purpose of God blessing us with wealth in the Kingdom is so we can bless others. Just like Abraham of old, we are blessed to be a blessing.
In this way stewardship protects our hearts from the love of money. We prioritize relationships with others above money considerations. We can be willing to absorb a short-term loss knowing that God is the source of our prosperity, not what we manage to accumulate in our bank accounts.
Stewardship Is Your Responsibility
Now you can see what stewardship means, and some of its benefits. What you do with that information is your responsibility.
Will you choose to become that faithful and wise steward that Jesus will be looking for when He returns?
