From the very beginning, God has been crystal clear on what His plan is for you and me. In Genesis 1, when He created man, He gave us a command that laid out His plan for His greatest creation. What was that command? He commanded us to be stewards of all of His creation. In Genesis 2:15, He gives us five things that we’re do: Fill the earth, subdue it, rule over it, work it and take care of it. We are to be good stewards of it all!
So what does that mean? According to Webster, “Stewardship is the care and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.” We think that stewardship simply has to do with finances, but that is just a small part of it. Stewardship involves everything!
There are two principles that we need to wrap our minds around if we’re truly going to understand what stewardship is all about.
- God owns everything. Psalm 24:1 reads, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.” Why does He own it all? Because He created and He sustains it. He made it, He holds it together, so therefore He has the right to claim ownership. That means that since He created us, we also belong to Him, which takes us to the second principle.
- God created man to be mangers of His creation. The word “stewardship” simply means “manager.” We are commanded to be good managers of all God’s creation. Go back to Genesis 2:15 and look at the five things we are to do. We are to take care of, manage, everything! The problem is that we get it all messed up and reverse these two principles. We start being managers, but after a period of time we begin to think that we own it. When we do that, we move outside of what God purpose and plan is for us. We forget that everything we have is simply on loan to us and that we can’t take it with us. When we pass from this life, everything we have been managing will simply be given to someone else to manage. That’s just the way it is, and once we understand these principles, it will revolutionize your life.