Stewardship is more than simply making “good” decisions and financial stewardship is more than simply making good spending, saving, and investing decisions. Stewardship is the core responsibility that God has given you to live out the life He calls you to. Money is both one of the biggest tools of temptation in your life and a necessary component of natural life and a potential tool of great power to serve the Lord and His people. Because of this, financial stewardship is at the very heart of stewardship – the core of the spiritual life.
Yet most of us have had little to no training in stewardship. We make every decision at the spur of the moment without any larger framework or context from which these decisions should be made. Becoming a steward of Christ’s blessings requires the wisdom of His ways and a deeper understanding of what He is calling you to; of what He expects of you.
The Way trains you in the core principles of stewardship so that you understand the responsibility and freedom that you, as a son of God, are called to as one who manages the business affairs of your Heavenly Father.
We’ll look at questions like:
- How does God view assets?
- Does God want you to be rich? Poor?
- What has the calling looked like for those who have handled mighty wealth for the Lord & His people in the past?
- Should you tithe and what is the tithe about?
- How does the wisdom of God pertain to stewardship?
- What is the difference between stewardship & ownership?
- How does financial stewardship relate to your entire spiritual life?
Learning about products and techniques to protect and grow your money are of limited value if they are not placed within the context of the eternal stewardship which God calls you to practice with what He’s given you. The deep truths taught are not meant as “head” knowledge, but are intended to deepen your understanding of the responsibility and trust that God is giving and that this change in you will be of eternal value. Your Heavenly Father is looking to bestow upon you an amazing grace to make decisions for your area of assignment in His most important business and He longs to guide you along the way as you learn to step into this responsibility.
The Way is designed to grow you in this understanding and awareness so that you can receive the wisdom of God which pertains directly to the calling He has for you. Only after this do financial tools and techniques gain the utility which is possible in stewardship of one lead by the Lord.
This post is Part 2 in the new series The Steward’s Calling. To continue with this series, click on Part 3. To use this as a growth tool to better understand your own calling, you might start by reading Part 1.
Artwork credit: “The Way”, original artwork by Don Tate