Developing Biblical Stewardship & Cultivating a Generous Heart
Icebreaker: What is one of your favorite gifts you’ve ever given someone else? Why was it so memorable?
Share your thoughts
What things of value in your life have you had to entrust to someone else? What kinds of things do you think God entrusts us to care for?
Developing Biblical Stewardship
God gives each of us resources of time, talent, and treasures that He wants us to manage and use to accomplish His plans and purposes in the world.
Genesis 1:27-28 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Genesis 2:15 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
We don’t tend to use the word “steward” very often in our everyday language, but it’s simply the idea of someone who is entrusted with the care of something else. Property owners entrust stewards to manage their property. When people draft wills to handle their property after they pass away, someone is often called the steward who can care for their property and possessions.
In a similar way, biblical stewardship begins with the principle that God owns everything. In Psalm 24:1, the psalmist says, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” In God’s kindness, He has given to us the responsibility of caring for and stewarding His resources. From the very beginning of God’s creation, God gave to Adam and Eve the task of tending His creation. Genesis 2:15 says, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” They were given the responsibility to “take care of” the land and His creation.
But it’s not just “creation” that God calls us to steward; He has also entrusted each of us with specific talents, resources, and opportunities. At Newbreak, we like to think of it in terms of four major areas of our lives that God trusts us to steward wisely: our time, talent, treasure, and testimony.
Cultivating a Generous Heart
God wants us to give freely of all that He has given us and helps us to grow in our desire and ability to use our resources to further His kingdom and make a difference in the lives of others.
2 Corinthians 9:6-15 6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.13 Because of theservice by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
The more we learn to understand God’s call of stewardship in our lives, and the more we learn to recognize His gifts to use and enjoy them, the more we are freed up to practice this thing called “generosity.” Since God is the source and provider of everything, we are free to be generous with our resources because we know that He will give us the things that we need. Think of it this way: we can’t out give God.
There are many different ways that we can practice generosity. We can use our gifts and talents to help others and we can use our time and our treasure to support the work of God. One word that gets used at churches when talking about the generosity of our treasure (finances/resources) is the word “tithe.” A tithe is defined as “one-tenth.” When we talk about tithing at church, we are referring to the Biblical practice of giving one-tenth of the first part of our income to the church we call home.
The practice of tithing was first introduced in the Old Testament when God-followers were called to sacrifice the first and best of their livestock and crops to God. Jesus then affirmed this practice in the New Testament (and called people to sacrifice even more!) When we tithe, we are demonstrating that God is first in our lives and that we can trust Him, not ourselves, to provide for our needs. God can do more in blessing our 90% than we can in keeping 100%.
In 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, Paul encouraged the church to be generous in their giving towards the work of God. In verse 6, Paul reminds us today that, “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” Paul knows that when we learn to be generous with our resources (sow generously), we get to see God provide in ways that we would never have expected (reap generously). This is why Paul encourages us not to give out of guilt or reluctance (vs.7) but out of confidence that, “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (vs.8).