I Will Be A Good Steward Series

B. As Stewards We Are Managers

The second most important thing we can learn this morning about stewardship is that nothing we have belongs to us, but it all belongs to the Lord. A steward in Bible times did not own anything, and what they managed belong totally to someone else.

Psalm 24:1

That fact explains why Job could say, “the Lord gives and the Lord takes away” after loosing all his possessions. The reason he could say that is because he understood that none of it was his in the first place so he didn’t have the right to complain when he lost it. He understood that as a steward his identity and self-worth were not in his possessions. He understood that everything was the Lord’s to start with and that he was just a steward of them. He took the best care of that which he had when he had it, but he knew he did not have the right to complain when God wanted it back because it was God’s to start with.

Therefore, there is nothing, which really belongs to me. I know we speak often times of having possessions, having our talents and time, etc, they really though are not ours, God has placed them in our care though.

Since we are slaves to Christ and stewards of the things of God, we are also managers of the things that he has entrusted to us. We are called to manage those things, which God has entrusted into our care. You may remember the parable that Jesus told of the talents in Matthew 25. The story was of a landowner who went away for a certain time and entrusted three different servants with three different amounts of money. The first two were good stewards of their master’s money, they made a profit. The third, however, was not a good steward of the money that was entrusted to him. We cannot buy or earn our way into Heaven, but it is true that we can gauge our stewardship and that will tell us something about where our heart is.

Matthew 6:21

II. The Traits of A Steward

A steward must display certain character traits in order to be a good steward of the things of God. How good of a steward are you? Could a person looking at you from the outside be able to tell that you put spiritual matters first in your life? How does the time you spend in Bible study and prayer contrast to your time watching T.V.? Perhaps you are not being the best steward of your time and of your spiritual self. Are you as diligent and dependable in your work in the church as you may be to work and other organizations? Perhaps you are not being the best steward of your talents and abilities? How does your giving to the Lord’s work compare with the amount you spend on leisurely activities for yourself and other wants you may have? Perhaps you are not being the best steward of the Lord’s money. If you were to be put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? If someone looked at your schedule would they know that God and His Church were an important part of your life? What traits are you showing to identify that you are a good steward? In the Roman world in which the Apostles lived slaved were valuable, but even more valuable if they had stewardship skills, if they had the traits to be a good steward.