Biblical Stewardship: Maximising God's Gifts to You
- Oj
- Jan 23
- 5 min read
I'll be honest with you, for years, I thought stewardship meant one thing: dropping money in the offering plate, paying my tithe, and maybe showing up to help with the church. It felt like a churchy way of saying "be generous sometimes." But the more I've wrestled with what the Bible actually says about stewardship, the more I've realised I was missing the entire point.
Stewardship isn't just about what you give away. It's about how you live with everything God has placed in your hands, and that changed everything for me.
What Does It Mean to Be a Steward?
Think about the last time someone trusted you with something valuable. Maybe a friend let you borrow their car, or a neighbour asked you to water their plants while they were away. You didn't treat those things carelessly, right? You felt a particular responsibility because they weren't really yours.
That's the heart of stewardship. Everything we have, and I mean everything, is on loan from God. Your paycheck? He provided the job and the abilities that earned it. Your kids? They're His children you get to raise. That talent you have for making people laugh, or organising chaos, or fixing broken things? All gifts. You didn't generate any of this on your own.
A steward isn't an owner; they're a manager of someone else's property. In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), Jesus beautifully illustrates this. The master entrusts his servants with varying amounts of money, not as permanent gifts, but as resources to invest and multiply during his absence. The faithful stewards don't hoard what they've been given; they put it to work.
This is our calling. God has entrusted each of us with gifts, not just material wealth, but time, abilities, relationships, influence, and opportunities. We're accountable for how we use them.
Beyond Money: The Full Scope of Stewardship
Let's get real about something: when pastors preach on stewardship, everyone immediately thinks it's a setup for a fundraising pitch. And yes, how you handle money absolutely matters. But if you feel stewardship stops at your bank account, you're missing 90% of what God wants to do in your life.
Your time is perhaps your most democratic resource. Rich and poor alike receive 24 hours each day. How you spend those hours, whether scrolling mindlessly or investing in growth, service, and relationships, shapes the trajectory of your entire life. Paul urges us to
"[make] the best use of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16).
Your talents and abilities are unique combinations that God has woven into your design. Some of us teach, others organise, still others create beauty or solve complex problems. These aren't random distributions but intentional equipping for specific purposes. When you leave your gifts dormant, you're essentially burying your talent in the ground like the fearful servant in Jesus' parable.
Your relationships and influence represent networks of impact. Every conversation, every interaction, every example you set ripples outward. Are you using your influence to encourage, challenge, and point others toward truth? Or are you squandering it on gossip, negativity, and self-promotion?
Your health and energy enable everything else. Stewarding your body through rest, nutrition, exercise, and boundaries isn't vanity. It's recognising that you can't serve effectively when you're burned out, sick, or depleted.
The Mindset Shift: From Scarcity to Abundance
Many of us operate from a scarcity mentality, clutching tightly to what we have out of fear that there won't be enough. But biblical stewardship flows from abundance. God is the ultimate owner of "the cattle on a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10). When we trust His provision, we're freed to be generous, to take risks, to invest in kingdom purposes without paralysing fear.
This doesn't mean recklessness. The faithful steward in Jesus' parable was wise, not foolish. But there's a crucial difference between wisdom and fear-driven hoarding. Wisdom asks, "How can I multiply this for God's glory?" Fear asks, "What if I lose what I have?"
Practical Steps Toward Better Stewardship
Start with an honest assessment. Take inventory of what God has given you. What resources, gifts, and opportunities are currently in your hands? Write them down. This simple act can reveal both the abundance you've overlooked and areas where you've been passive.
Ask the purpose question. For each gift, ask: "Why has God entrusted this to me? What purpose might He have in giving me this particular combination of resources?" Your gifts aren't random. They're clues to your calling.
Develop a plan. Stewardship requires intentionality. Create budgets for your money, schedules for your time, and strategies for developing your talents. Vague intentions rarely lead to faithful stewardship.
Practice generosity consistently. Regular giving, whether financially, through service, or by sharing your expertise, trains your heart away from ownership and toward stewardship. It's a spiritual exercise that builds the muscle of trust.
Seek counsel and accountability. We all have blind spots. Invite trusted, wise people to speak into how you're managing what God has given you. Are there gifts you're neglecting? Resources you're misusing? Opportunities you're missing?
Remember the ultimate purpose. Stewardship isn't about impressive returns for their own sake. It's about participating in God's work in the world. The goal isn't to multiply your talents to stroke your ego, but to see God's kingdom advanced and His glory revealed through faithful management.
The Joy of Faithful Stewardship
Here's what nobody told me about stewardship: it's actually more fun than hoarding.
When you spend your whole life protecting what you have and playing it safe, you might feel secure, but you won't feel alive. There's a kind of joy that only comes from seeing something you've stewarded well bear fruit. When the time you invested helps someone succeed. When the money you give changes a life. When the talent you developed solves a problem nobody else could crack.
In Jesus' parable, the faithful servants don't get to retire on a beach. They get invited into greater responsibility and more profound joy with their master. Stewarding more means more opportunities to participate in something meaningful.
You have more than you think you do. Maybe not more money than you need, but more gifts, more time, more influence, more opportunity than you're currently using.
So here's the question: What are you going to do with it? Will you bury it in the backyard of your life because you're afraid? Or will you trust God enough to invest it, multiply it, and watch what He does with your faithfulness?
The choice is yours. And honestly? So is the joy that comes with it.
Comments