Stewards are not owners but managers. Once this is realized, it will change our attitude toward money. Prosperity is not greed. In fact, it is greed that keeps people from receiving teachings on prosperity.
1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. (KJV)
Steward = Greek oikonomos (oy-kon-om’-os) the manager of a household, a guardian. A steward is someone entrusted with another’s wealth or property and charged with the responsibility of managing it in the owner’s best interest.
Luke 16:10-13 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? 13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (NKJ)
God owns it all. How can we wihhold what belongs to Him?
Malachi 3:8-11 Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing without measure. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your land, and the vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the LORD of Hosts. (Berean)
Hebrew = otsar (o-tsaw’) = treasure, store, a treasury, storehouse, appointed for storing seed and food.
You are to give where you are fed. You don’t eat at McDonald’s and then pay at Burger King.
Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),(NKJ)
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. (Berean)
Some may say, “Well, my hearts not in it so I just won’t give. Don’t change the giving. Change the heart and the giving will be cheerful. Don’t be detached from your giving making it a mechanical performance. Ask God how much you should give and then thank Him for being able to help His work.
Matthew 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: (KJV)
Your heart follows what you treasure the most.
Proverbs 11:24-25 One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor. 25 A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. (Berean)
Deuteronomy 15:10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then, because of this, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. (NIV)
Deuteronomy 16:17 Each man must bring a gift in proportion to the blessings the LORD your God has given him. (GWT)
Philippians 4:18-19 I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Berean)
Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man. (NKJ)
People of faith are givers. Don’t allow the Devil to steal your joy and peace from you. Fear of not having enough robs you from the joy of giving like you really want to. (helping)
1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are laborers together with God: you are God’s field, you are God’s building. (KJV)
Jeremiah 17:5-8 This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD. 6 He will be like a shrub in the desert; he will not see when prosperity comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is Him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease to produce fruit. (Berean)
People who know they are blessed don’t fear or worry. If you can’t trust God with your finances how can you truly trust Him with your salvation?
