My only interaction with thoughts on stewardship came from my upbringing at church and hearing church sermons. I related the word to taking care of the earth – based on the book of Genesis – and giving money to the church, based on what, I am not sure. The tithing word probably got associated with stewardship, but I never really gave it much thought.

I can’t clearly even remember when I first heard the word steward or what it made me think about, but I do know that I have only really considered the idea of stewardship over the past 10 years, as my husband became a financial coach at More Than Enough Financial Fitness.

The whole premise of stewardship ties in with the definition that a steward manages the property or resources of another – the owner. In my faith community that owner would be God. Psalm 24 says:

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.

The Christian’s foundational premise of understanding stewardship is that it all belongs to God.

It’s all His. The mountains, the valleys, the cows, the fields, the dogs, the cats, our spouse, our kids, our jobs, our bank accounts, our homes, our water, our sleep, our time, our expertise.

It is all His.

I feel like I need to take a step back. A breather. FULL STOP.

As a follower of Christ, I can say that I need a Saviour because I cannot redeem myself from sin.

As a child of God, I can say that I need the adoption and love of my Heavenly Father, because His love is a perfect love that I can find no other place.

As a disciple of Christ, I die daily to my own way, because His Way is lit by purity, light, love, compassion, mercy and grace.

And yet – I have trouble with this one key of discipleship – It is all His.

Do you really believe everything is His?
Maybe I am the only person on the planet that has had to wrestle through this (I don’t think so). Maybe people don’t think about following Christ in terms of stewardship. I know I haven’t truly, until these past few years.

To say I am a believer, to say I am a follower of Christ, to say I am a disciple of Jesus is to say I am a steward of all God gives me. This is an I am statement that means: “I believe it is all His.”

But this is where I can get stumped on the stewardship word and the stewardship journey.

The money in my bank account is His? Yes.
I need to submit my income to His plans? Yes.
I can’t use my money, time, expertise to live for myself? No.
It is more than simply tithing? Yes.
I need to learn to make every spending decision a spiritual one? Yes.

All I need to do is look at my bank account, and I will quickly see where my heart is, because where I spend money will reflect what I truly believe. Our friend Lorne Jackson sums it all up in the title of a book he wrote: After the Faith Decision…all Else is Stewardship.

Even as I write these words I feel cringy because I feel like I have such a long way to go in believing in, and acting on the truth. It is all His.

To be honest, I can agree that some things are His. When God gave us our children, we truly dedicated them back to Him. And children are a big gift! I can agree that the mountains are His, and the valleys. They are sooo big, I couldn’t take care of them.

So why then do I struggle with the lesser important things – money or possessions or my insignificant earthly treasures. Those are His too?

Yes. All of it.

Let me clarify something here. Being God’s steward doesn’t mean we live in lack. It means we live in the world of enough. We live in giving, in sharing, in community, where no one is lacking and everyone has what they need. But honestly, I have WAY more than I need, and I so often make selfish decisions.

This is hard. But it is only hard because I am serving myself, or money and possessions, and I am not serving God. This is where I realize it is about dying daily to myself. If I call myself His disciple, I also say it all belongs to Him.

So what do we do?
Look honestly at stewardship.

• What does it look like in your life? What do you think you steward well? Where could you improve?
• Ask yourself if you truly believe it is all His. If you don’t, ask God to help bring you into the truth and the joy of being His steward. Meditate on Scriptures like Psalm 24. Read a good book on stewardship.
• Pray and Repent. Turn away from living for yourself, and commit yourself to living for Him, in discipleship and stewardship.

It is good to remember that like all areas of our walk with God, stewardship is a journey. He will ask you to loosen your grip, some days, on what you have been clasping and grasping tightly. Some days you may not give or steward cheerfully – do it anyway. This journey will uncover the heart issues around money, giving and stewardship, and it is not for the faint of heart. Don’t get discouraged. Share your journey with a friend. Find encouragement and listen to the Lord as He cheers you on. He knows it is not easy.