What is a Good Steward? Is Your Debt Standing Between You and God

Christians are often encouraged to be "good stewards" but what does that mean?

Biblically speaking, a steward is someone who was trusted with another's goods. As Christians, we should realize everything we have belongs to God. Therefore everything we "own" actually belongs to God. We are simply stewards of His goods. So what does this imply?

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First we should rid ourselves of attitudes like "It's mine, I can wreck it if I want to", because it's not ours and the decision of whether or how to dispose of it doesn't belong to us. We simply hold our earthly goods in trust.

What is a Good Steward? Is Your Debt Standing Between You and God

In addition, this concept should free us from being slaves to "our" material things. If it belongs to God then He can do with those things as He wishes. Why worry about "losing" all "we" have?

Lastly, we need to take care of what God allows us to steward. Scripture says if we do well with what we've got we'll get more. If we squander what little we have, we'll lose even that. So not having much is no excuse for not taking care of what we've got. So how should we adjust our attitude?

Be thankful. Often when we treat ourselves we think... "I've earned it." While it's true your success may be the result of effort you put forth, who gave you the ability and the opportunity? It must have come from God. God says he gives us the desires of our hearts. (Psalms 37:4)

Does this means God gives those who delight themselves in Him what they desire or the desires themselves? I'd have to say both!

What good is one without the other?

Proverbs 13:12 says "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life."

Why would God give us a desire and not what we desire? Such a God would be cruel.

How can godly thoughts and desires spring from anywhere but God? Scripture clearly states man is no good by himself. We were all born in sin and tend to seek out ungodly things. Since all good things come from God, it stands to reason our godly desires also come from God. What about ungodly desires?

I don't for one moment think God gives us anything that would lead us away from Him. This includes desires. So such ungodly desires must come from somewhere else.

The conclusion here is clear: God gives us godly things, including godly desires and then he gives us those godly things we desire. What do we do to receive all this?

Delight ourselves in the Lord.

One we understand everything we have is from God what next?

Treat your things with care. Your attitude should be After all they don't belong to you, they were given to you to use so use them with respect.

Be generous. Our God has cattle on a thousand hills. He is our sufficiency in all things. He also knows we will be in situations that allow us to show His love to others. God wants us to help others, so we should whenever possible.

Be fruitful. Remember the parable of the talents. The good servants (stewards) returned more to the master than they got. Fruitfulness implies producing rather than consuming. Yes, a workman is worthy of his reward, but many spend far more time and money counting and enjoying the rewards than furthering God's purposes.

Most of us get into trouble when we start wanting stuff we can't afford and even some stuff we can afford. God says plainly our hearts are where are treasures are. (Matthew 6:21) So do you want your heart to be with God or locked up in the basement with your gold?

Being a good steward doesn't mean living a life of poverty while giving all we own to others. It does mean taking the best possible things of what God blessed us with and bearing fruit with it. Whether bearing fruit means helping others or multiplying what we've got depends on God's Will for our lives. He's designed each of us to respond to Him in unique ways.

Scripture does NOT say it's a sin to have debt, yet it seems clear borrowing is not something that should be taken lightly. If you are borrowing because you spend more than you earn than your bigger problem is spending. Surely it would be best if we had no debt at all, but this is not always possible. What is possible is to make every effort to live within our means.

This may mean a less expensive car, house, or toys, among other things. Do you pay 0 per month for cable tv? Are you addicted to texting on your cell phone? Do you eat out several times a week? Even fast food costs a lot more than eating similar meals at home. A hard look at our spending habits may reveal much about the kind of steward we are.

If any of this has hit home, you may want to look at your life and the fruit you produce. Keep in mind God gives us more than mere material things too. He gives us our talents, abilities and our time. By adjusting your attitude about what you have, you can open the floodgates to all the blessings God has in store for you.

What is a Good Steward? Is Your Debt Standing Between You and God

Andy Havens is a writer, marketer and businessman who also happens to be a Christian. He frequently pens articles about how Christian beliefs affect everyday life. For more articles and resources on one Christian's perspective on debt visit Christian Debt 101

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