“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? “No servant can serve two masters.
Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and Money.” Luke 16:10-17 NIV
As followers of Christ, we are called to have dominion and to practice good stewardship of the resources God has entrusted us with. Whether you have few resources or many, God is not as concerned with the “how much” as He is with the “how.”
For example, the poor widow gave a few mites into an offering in which many Pharisees were giving large amounts of money. The present day mites of what she put into the offering might have been a few pennies at the very most. But Jesus turned to His disciples and said she had given more than anyone present at that time. Jesus measures our stewardship by what we have been given, not by what others have been given. We are only measured against ourselves and what God has empowered us to do.
When it comes to stewardship, God is concerned with your obedience to the Spirit of God, and how faithful you are with the resources you have. Let’s set a Biblical foundation for what God wants to share with you about the blessing of stewardship.
Can God trust you? Good stewardship is the practice of systematic and proportionate giving of time, abilities and material possessions based on the conviction that these are a trust from God to be used in His service for the benefit of His Kingdom. A person with their faith in Christ who is living a lifestyle of good stewardship will tap into increase. How do we get to that place in every area of our lives?
As the text above says in verse 11, “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”
My call as a believer is to extend His Kingdom influence into every realm of society. We have a command for good stewardship of God’s resources, and this command is based upon “the dominion mandate.”
The Dominion Mandate “God blessed them and said to them, “be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:28
The mandate from God was to fill the earth, subdue it and rule over everything in it. God wanted man to fill every corner of the earth and have faithful dominion over it. God desired to see everything on earth increase in number. The stewardship principle is “to manage resources in such a way that you increase them.” We fulfill the larger dominion mandate of bringing increase when we fulfill the stewardship principle of wisely managing resources in such a way that they tend to increase.
God is a God of increase and multiplication. He commanded everything He created to multiply and become more. He set the principles of wisdom into motion on earth for man to be able to cause things to increase by working in alignment with God’s spiritual principles. Stewardship asks “What are you doing with what you have?”
Today, we get into “increase!” You have a job to do for Jesus! Nothing just happens in the kingdom of God. Jesus stated in John 10:10 (Amplified):
“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).”
Jesus declared His purpose for you. How do I live this abundant life and begin prosper with health in every area?
“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”
Heb 10:38 KJV
Who shall live by faith? “The just” shall live by faith. Who are the just? Those who have been declared “righteous.” Notice that a person is declared righteous. A person is not in themselves righteous, because there is no one that is righteous, no not one. A person is declared righteous and just when one is born again, washed by the blood of Jesus and redeemed from the power of sin and death because of their rightstanding with God through Jesus Christ.
Therefore, if you said “YES” to Jesus, you have a certain, specified way to live. As the “just,” you have an appointed way to live. If you are living any other way, it is out of alignment with the course that God has for your “abundant life.”
Lifestyle is not hit and miss, but it is the typical way of life for an individual. Lifestyle might also be defined as revealing your character. Lifestyle means you handle your money in a certain way on a regular basis. You handle your family in a particular way on a regular basis, and you handle your marriage in a certain way and you handle your career in a certain way on a regular basis. If you live by something that means it is your lifestyle. That which you live by becomes your standard of doing things. Can God trust you?
In order to follow the stewardship principle of causing all things in my care to prosper and increase, my lifestyle must be one of faith. The stewardship principle is a wisdom principle that brings results in the natural of increase! My family, my finances, career, education, and children should all be prospering and increasing in godly wisdom, strength and stature due to this principle. Everything that encompasses the way I live is to be “by faith.”
The degree of your success is going to be based on your understanding of how to operate with the system of God. A system is an organized or established procedure. There is a prescribed way of living in order to be a good steward. It is recorded in His instruction manual.
As followers of Christ, we are called to have dominion and to practice good stewardship of the resources God has entrusted us with. Whether you have few resources or many, God is not as concerned with the “how much” as He is with the “how.” You have a job to do for Jesus! What are you doing with what you have?” Can God trust you with more? We will fulfill the larger dominion mandate of bringing increase when we fulfill the stewardship principle of wisely managing resources in such a way that they increase. Can God trust you with increase? I challenge you to be a good steward… increase could be right around the corner!
