As Christians who have Jesus as our Savior, who have submitted our lives to Him, who are committed to Jesus in a growing and loving relationship and live in obedience to His Word; we are all familiar with the meaning and personal application the following verses that describe our commitment to Jesus.
Matthew 22:37-38
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
John 14:15
“If you love me, you will obey what I command.
1 John 2:3-6
3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Our relationship and commitment to love, trust and follow Jesus can be challenging to us at times in many different perspectives. As we mature in our relationship with Him, we are often confronted with decisions to trust God and obey His Word or disobey and do it our way and or the world’s way. Trusting and obeying God and His word many times goes against popular secular thinking. Many times, our relationship and commitment to love, trust and follow Jesus conflicts with what society considers normal and politically correct. The apostle Paul makes this point clear to the Christians of the Colossian church.
Colossians 2:6-8
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
Our commitment to “continue to live in him” or our life in Christ involves our understanding of God’s Word and how it applies to our relationship with Him and even with others will concern the following areas of our life, just to name a few; finances, material possessions, time, (our) health, skills, experience, influence.
When Christians talk about these topics almost all the time they are mentioned with the word or pronoun “my”. “My money”, “My stuff”, “My house”, “My car”, “My tools”, “My clothes or My shoes’. “My time”, “My body”, “My skills” or “My experience” and “My reputation”.
There are many verses in the Bible, which we can only list a few, that clearly states if we have given our lives to Christ our lives and all our possessions are not ours but belong to Christ or “God Owns It All”.
Romans 14:7-8, 7 For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
Galatians 2:20-21, 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Now instead of thinking, saying and living as if all we have is “mine”, we now should change our way of understanding that “God Owns It All”. In other words, it is “God’s money”, “God’s stuff”, “God’s house”, “God’s car”, “God’s tools”, “God’s clothes or God’s shoes”. “God’s time”, “God’s body”, and so forth. Since “God Owns It All” then it is a Christian’s responsibility to be God’s manager or administrator of all that He has given to us. The commonly known term is “Stewardship”.
There many definitions and explications of what is a Christian’s responsibility when it involves the stewardship or being a steward of all that God has given to us to manage.
Randy Alcorn a recognized Christian authority and author says the following concerning the Biblical topic of stewardship.
Stewardship – “Managing the assets that belong to God which He has entrusted to us.” “Stewardship is the God-given responsibility to manage His property.”
Concerning the finances that God has entrusted to manage or steward he says the following.
– “Living as a steward means surrendering your finances to God and recognizing yourself as a manager, not owner, of all you have. It is a part of our identity, not just our behavior.”
– “We surrender our finances to God and recognize that we’re managers, not owners, of all He’s given us. We accept His provision and honor Him by giving.
– “We’re to keep a clear conscience and put others first. This means living with integrity and love, willingly putting other people first.”
– “We avoid lifestyles of indulgence by living generously knowing that this is not our home.”
– “God’s financial principles are not an arbitrary set of rules to govern us. They’re a loving Father’s wisdom to those who will listen and trust Him.”
Larry Burkett another well-known author and authority said, “When we surrender every area of our lives, including our finances, to God, then we are free to trust Him to meet our needs. But if we would rather hold tightly to those things that we possess, then we find ourselves in bondage to those very things.”
Hayford’s Bible Handbook explains Stewardship this way. “STEWARDSHIP—the management of another person’s property, finances, or household affairs. The believer’s stewardship incorporates accountability for the way in which he or she manages life’s affairs as given as a personal oversight. These include the stewardship of one’s monies, time, abilities, and influence.”
How to recognize a good steward? A faithful steward can be summed up as:
• One who recognizes that God owns everything.
Deuteronomy 10:14, “Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.”
Psalms 24:1, The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.
• One who faithfully manages resources according to biblical principles.
John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.
• One who intentionally multiplies resources and uses them for God’s glory.
Matthew 25:14-30 – The Parable of the Talents, 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
• One who gives cheerfully, saves consistently, invests wisely and avoids debt.
1 Timothy 6:17-19, 17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
Romans 13:8, Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another,
• One who works as unto the Lord.
Colossians 3:23, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
• The character of the steward consists of being humble, wise, loving, cheerful, content, grateful and disciplined.
Hebrews 13:5, Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have,
1 Timothy 3:2-7, 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders,
Pastor Chuck Swindoll gives us some important insight concerning money and material possessions that as Christians we all need to live by.
“When it comes to money and material possessions, too many of us, if we are completely honest, are owned by the things that we own. Like slaves serving an unrelenting master, we spend our lifetimes making money so we can buy stuff that grows old or breaks down and needs repair. And then we have to make more money to replace or repair all that stuff. But let me give you four simple, single-syllable words that will give you freedom—real financial freedom. These words aren’t original with me, and quite frankly, they don’t sound all that profound, but I’ve never come across four words in all my studies that can better free us from financial bondage. Here they are: God owns it all.”
“Stewardship is managing God’s treasures in God’s way, for God’s purposes, and always for God’s glory. We begin life with our hands wide open and nothing in them. As we mature, by the grace of God, He allows certain things to be placed into our possession, none of them under our ownership. Remember, He owns everything in heaven and earth. It’s all His.”
“We’re back to where we started: God owns it all. You will never be in financial trouble if you remember those four words. They will revolutionize your thinking on finances. I wish “God owns it all” could appear on every checkbook, every pocketbook, every income tax return, every stock transaction, every credit card, every home mortgage, every car title, every real estate contract, and every business deal. I wish all the stuff in our homes—including our houses—were stamped with that reminder in bold letters.” “GOD OWNS IT ALL”
Pastor John
