A Steward Mindset

In day 34 of The Purpose Driven Life, the author describes the mindset of a servant of God. He makes the following statements: “Servants think like stewards, not owners. Servants remember that God owns it all. In the Bible, a steward was a servant entrusted to manage an estate. … How are you handling the resources God has entrusted to you?”

You see we can easily fall into the trap of thinking that our money, our resources, and all of our stuff belongs to us, but the Biblical perspective is to remember that it all belongs to God and that we are simply called to manage it on God’s behalf.

Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13 NLT). It is interesting to note that Jesus didn’t say you should not serve both God and money, but instead he said “you cannot serve both God and money.”

Rick Warren writes, “When Jesus is your Master, money serves you, but if money is your master, you become its slave. Wealth is certainly not a sin, but failing to use it for God’s glory is. Servants of God are always more concerned about ministry than money.”

As we give back to God financially let’s realize that the money we give is really money owned by God and we are simply managers (or stewards) of it. Also, let’s keep our focus on the ministry that can be accomplished through this money, and the blessing that this ministry can be to others.