Stewardship of Treasures

I preached a message on the stewardship of treasures on Sunday from Genesis 12-14. I focused on lessons that can be learned from the life of Abraham regarding this very important subject. When it comes to a discussion of money in the church people tend to tighten up. The subject is often addressed in churches by two extremes. In some churches, there is an inordinate amount of time given to the subject of money and it might lead one to think that is their primary issue of concern, and there is an overemphasis on it. In other churches, there seems to be a fear of discussing the subject so as not to offend anyone.

There are over 2000 verses in the Bible that deal with stewardship and accountability for the use of money. It is an important subject from God’s perspective because it reflects your heart and devotion to God.

Money and material things are not evil, they are a blessing from God. All of our money belongs to God and not just the portion that we give. Satisfaction cannot be found in the things of this world, it can only be found in God. Your Christian testimony is impacted by what kind of manager, or steward you are. If you live for yourself, and spend and hoard on yourself it speaks volumes about your heart.

A faithful steward will 1) Trust God with all of life- The basis for this is that God can be trusted. If you are not a faithful steward you are saying by your actions that you do not trust God to provide for your needs and you can do a better job of it. If you are going to be a faithful steward, it has to start by surrendering yourself to God. The reason such a small percentage of people are faithful with their finances, is because such a small percentage of people are truly surrendered to God, and trusting God with their lives. Stewardship is a heart issue. The only people who get upset when stewardship is addressed, are the people who are unfaithful and the Spirit of God uses it to bring conviction on their lives.

A faithful steward will 2) Take control of their God given resources in a God honoring way. The stewardship of treasures is very important. Your ownership of them is a direct result of God’s favor and blessing, and not your personal achievements. You have to think like a pilgrim and not a settler as you take control of your resources. Our citizenship is in Heaven and Jesus tells us to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal, for where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. You have to trust God as the Giver and not get caught up in the gift. God wants you to rely on Him, and to seek His blessings. Your faith in God will provide the proper motivation for you to utilize your resources appropriately and in the best way to glorify God.

A faithful steward will 3)Tithe as a starting point in their worship in giving. For the Christian, we understand that giving begins with God. His supernatural expression of giving was in the sacrifice of His only begotten Son that we might receive forgiveness for our sins, become children of God and enjoy abundant and eternal life. God continually gives of Himself to us. He instructs us to give back to Him in our tithes and offerings. A tithe is literally a tenth of the increase. The tithe is the starting point for your worship in giving through the local church. Some try to argue that because we are under grace and not under the law that Christians are not obligated to tithe. I agree, in principle. However, if you want to go down that path, let’s take it a step further. I believe we are called to a much higher standard. The tithe is simply a baseline starting point. Jesus said in Matthew 10:8 Freely you have received, freely give! For the most part, I have found through the years that people who argue that point are trying to get around faithful giving and figure out how to hold back from God. People who have a giving heart ask how much they can give not how little they can decently get by with giving. An offering is anything above the tithe.

Give cheerfully and with a willing heart. Give proportionately and sacrificially. Know that you absolutely cannot out give God. God tells us to test Him in this area. Jesus gave. He gave in feeding the multitudes. He gave in healing the sick. He gave in teaching His disciples. He gave in compassion for the poor. He gave by offering rest for the weary. He gave ultimately by giving His life on the cross as payment for the penalty of my sins.

I want to be like Jesus. I want to be a giver. What about you?