Stewardship. Stewardship is being responsible for proper care of something with an eye to improvement, and in the Bible, we are all listed as stewards. It is not, however, ownership. The steward is accountable to a master, an owner, and in life, the Bible say, we own nothing. We just steward it all…

We are stewards of the earth according to Genesis 1:28, put in charge of everything. In that sense, God created us with a purpose in life—to take care of His creation. Beyond that, we are told in 2 Corinthians 5:19 that the Gospel itself is ours to steward—committed to us that we might share it boldly with the world. Other things to consider when you think about stewardship would be your own time, money, physical body, mental abilities (education), relationships with other people and with God, and your everyday mundane stuff. Read the Bible carefully and you discover that God is pretty adamant about our being responsible to taking care of things and when possible to make them better. How adamant? Read closely and you’ll find that he intends to punish and reward people for how well they live up to the responsibilities he’s given. Uh-oh! Time to pay attention.

READ: Genesis 1:26-30, Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:11-27, 1 Peter 4:10

THINK: Time. Talents. Treasure. Body. Mind. Spirit. Family. Friends. Strangers. Which areas do you need to focus on more in order to be a better steward of your life? What does it mean to be a good steward of the earth? The Gospel?

PRAY: Pray through 1 Peter 4:10. Thank God for the gift, talents, time, treasures, et cetera with which you have been blessed. Ask for an opportunity to use those to serve someone else this week, and for the wisdom to manage life with grace.

ACT: Share it. Take a minute to process something you learned from this lesson and make it a status update on your social media. As an act of stewardship in your life, help someone else this week.