Financial Stewardship

The Gospel is about love, and so is much of the New Testament, but did you know that there are around 500 references on love in the Bible, but more than 2000 references on money and possessions? That's because while love is the heart of the Word, stewardship is the body. The very first and only job Adam was given soon after being created was stewardship over all the resources of the earth. That job has not been taken back from men, we still have this job today.

While without love, all the possessions in the world are meaningless; love is given to us as the Philosophy with which we are to do our work. Our work is stewardship over all the resources God has given us, prayers, time, earthly resources, relationships, and ourselves.

After meditating on this teaching, I have started to live out the Word in my life in various ways. Started counting the seconds I spend in the shower, eating what is necessary but no longer indulging in things unnecessary, squeezing in appointments to do more and connect more than squeezing out time to relax, overcoming stress as a barrier and using it as a motivator to work more efficiently, praying more about stewardship and learning as much as possible about managing the resources given to me already, and this continues to unfold and surprise me as I keep my mind open for ways to be absolutely wise with my stewardship of my time on earth.

I have heard many a sermon on stewardship and had never taken it in so seriously as I have now, and much of the time in the past, I had been clinging onto "my" time and "my" money and "my" circumstances, and had not thought it possible to be a steward. But, when seeing more clearly now that finances, tithes, are the first level of faith, for where your money is, truly, your heart is also. When you tithe a significant percentage of your hard earned income, you are released from this scarcity mentality, to acknowledge how much God has provided for and will provide for you, and it creates a shift in your faith, and your heart, and your partnership with Him. He doesn't actually need our money, but it is through this voluntary gesture that our hearts are unlocked regarding stewardship.

We say we want to love, and we say we want to further His kingdom, but just giving mindlessly and loving without intention or goals will not achieve it. It is all about intentionality. When you are wise in your stewardship, for the purpose of expanding His kingdom, you start making choices that qualifies you as a better steward. And as we know from the Bible, when we are wise with God's money, or even when we are wise with other people's money, they too will trust us with more, let alone God who owns everything and desires to let go for us to manage it all.

And He does want to let us manage it. That is why Jesus taught quite a lot on Kingdom Stewardship too, through his parables and teachings. And so does Solomon. If we just seize this truth in our lives, it will change how we live, how we see, and how we win as not just redeemed humanity, but true heirs of God. Living in abundance in faith, in power, and in resources for the sake of loving all, blessing all, and glorifying God.

My eyes have been opened to new and endless possibilities, as I continue to streamline my life to His calling, His mission and His purpose for my life, and as I continue to strip down barriers that prevent me from actualizing the abundant life that He gives. I will continue to move in kingdom power and authority, and be a blessing to all that I am blessed to meet. And truly be a candle in the dark.