by Ps. Melvin
When we give, God blesses us. We need to understand that it is the motive and not the content.
Joshua 24:15
15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
It’s not easy to server the Lord as we need to serve Him wholly.
We have issues in our finances which results in a chaos in our finances. E.g.: Sometimes sickness leaves our finance in tatters. However, when we are greedy, we leave our finance in tatters.
A practical advice: Plan your finances. That’s the proper way, the biblical way. When you borrow, consider 30% of gross income as available for borrow.
If your heart is not content, it sows of un-contentment. This results in you not being content in all that you do.
We need to understand the difference between Ownership & Stewardship: When we know who owns, we become good stewardship.
Discipline is key in stewardship.
Matt 25:14-30
14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.
17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.
18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’
21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’
23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Defining stewardship: Management of and protection of the property/resources of another
3 basic foundational teachings:
1. I am not the owner
Psalm 50:12
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
The earth is Gods and He owns everything. If He needed to eat, He would take what he wanted.
1 Cor 10:26
26 for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”
Everything that is considered precious belongs to God. Nothing belongs to us.
Yet, God has made us stewards.
When we give to God, do we give what we received or everything that we have done in what He’s given.
2. I am the steward
Gen 2:15
15 Then the Lord God took [d]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to [e]tend and keep it.
Evolutionism propagates that no ownership. When there is ownership, there is no accountability.
A talent was a financial unit in the 1st century; which was 6000 Denarius – This was a lifetime of wages.
This would mean, the servant who got 5 times did not have to work as what he received would serve his lifetime and several generati0ns after him.
Matt 25:24
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
This seems to the heart of man today. This man did not want to grow.
When God gives, He causes us to grow. So does our ability and our experience.
Matt 25:21
21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
When you are faithful with what God gives you, God will reward you with more.
When we are not content with what we have and we are not faithful with what God has already given us, we exhibit greed.
We are also called to protect and grow what He has given
We only give about 10% of our income. Do we do what we want with the rest?
Your abundance is to be a source of help to someone else.
3. Am I a good steward?
Luke 12:16-21
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’
20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
God provided the rich man with all that he had. But He was judging the rich man because the rich man was living for himself.
