Biblical Stewardship Defined:
Stewardship is utilizing, caring for, and managing all resources God provides for the glory of God and the betterment of His creation.
Genesis 39:4, NKJV
So Joseph found favor in his (Potipher) sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority.
Genesis 1:26, NKJV
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 2:15, NIV
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
1. Everything Was Created by God
Genesis 1:1, NIV
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Colossians 1:16, NIV
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
2. Everything Belongs to The Lord
Psalm 24:1-2, NIV
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
Psalm 50:9-10, NLT
But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens. For all the animals ofthe forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
Psalm 50:12, NLT
If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it.
Haggai 2:8, NIV
‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Deuteronomy 8:17-18, NIV
You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
1 Chronicles 29:14, NLT
But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!
1 Corinthians 4:7, NIV
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
3. God Has Called Us to Be Faithful Stewards
Matthew 25:14-30, NIV
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your
lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them. His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather
where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will
have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
4. Faithful Stewardship Can Result in Growth
Malachi 3:10-11, NLT
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops
will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Proverbs 3:9-10, NIV
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8, NIV
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:11, NIV
You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion…
5. We Will Be Held Accountable for Our Stewardship
6. Faithful Stewardship Will Be Rewarded
Leviticus 25:18-22, NIV
“‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.
Colossians 3:23-24, NIV
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Matthew 6:19-21, NKJV
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.