Stewards are not owners but managers. Once this is realized, it will change our attitude toward money and bring about a course correction in our giving.
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.
Ephesians 4:28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need. (Berean)
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) Greek = Master = Lord — supreme in authority, i.e. (as noun) controller.
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.
LORD = Yahweh (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah.
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)
God is more concerned with the attitude (reason) for sinning than He is with the sin itself. Sin has already been dealt with on the cross but our attitude reveals our position.
Proverbs 3:5-10 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil. 8 This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones. 9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest; 10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.(Berean)
Haggai 2:19 Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you. (NKJ) A barn (storehouse) is where you store seed and food.
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.
You are to give where you are fed. You don’t eat at Chick-fil-a and then pay at KFC.
1 Corinthians 9:7-14 Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink from the milk of the flock? 8 Do I speak these things according to man? Or does the Law not also say these things? 9 For in the Law of Moses it has been written: “You shall not muzzle an ox treading out grain.” Is there care for the oxen with God? 10 Or is He speaking because of us entirely? For it was written for us, because in hope the one plowing ought to plow, and the one threshing, in hope to partake. 11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it a great thing if we will reap material things from you? 12 If others partake of the authority over you, should we not more? But we did not use this right. Instead, we bear all things, so that we should not place any hindrance to the gospel of Christ. 13 Do you not know that those working in the temple eat the things of the temple; those attending at the altar partake in the altar? 14 So also, the Lord has prescribed to those proclaiming the gospel to live from the gospel. (Berean)
1 Corinthians 9:14 In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it. (NLT)
