DOMINION STEWARDS: EMBRACING THE CALL TO BE A GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT

“Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

*deep wistful sigh* The words every lover of Jesus, including myself, fervently desires to hear at the end of our time here on Earth. It’s the greatest affirmation we could ever get, and confirmation that we lived our lives in accordance with His purpose, with the level of faith that pleased Him.

To set the tone of where I’m about to take you, pause for a moment to meditate on these two verses:

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. Psalm 24:1 NLT

But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! 1 Chronicles 29:14 NLT

I mean it. Really take a moment.

IN THE BEGINNING

First of all, shoutout to David—a man truly after God’s own heart—for the wisdom found in these verses. Psalm 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 29:14 both remind me to take my eyes off myself and place them squarely on God, acknowledging that everything belongs to Him. These verses make it clear that the earth and everything in it—including you and me—are His, and nothing truly belongs to us. Nothing! And I can’t be the only one wondering If everything belongs to the Lord and I don’t really own anything, but I’ve been given so much, what am I supposed to be doing with it all? And why did He give me what He did?

So, of course, I had to take a look at very the beginning. Let’s take a journey back to Genesis. Imagine you’ve just woken up in a lush garden. Everything around you is beautiful, you’re completely naked, and you don’t know anything because you literally just came from dust. Then, the voice of God, the One who created you, says: “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” (Genesis 1:28 NLT).

In the very next breath, God continues: “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the earth and every tree that bears fruit for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” (Genesis 1:30 NLT).

YOU JUST WOKE UP! And suddenly everything on earth has been given to you, and you are called to rule over it. No pressure though.

Isn’t this the case for us as well? Slightly different individual origin stories, but the call remains the same. After God created Adam and Eve, He saw to it that humanity wouldn’t need to be made from dust again—everyone could just come from the original pair, which is pretty cool and so smart, right? We get family connections; He doesn’t have to raise every human from dirt and ribs. You know, just one of the many cool things He’s done. But, while we have human mothers and fathers who nurture and raise us, who are 60+ generations removed from the original parents, the responsibility entrusted to Adam did not vanish upon his death. In truth, all of us—descendants of Adam and Eve—have inherited the same calling, even though we live in a modern world.

DOMINION

The weight of this task isn’t exactly light, and God knows we need specific tools and abilities to fulfill it. So, not only has God given us authority and dominion over the earth, but He also equips us with the tools and skills necessary to carry out His calling—and even more. And praise God for that, because whew, we need serious help!

So, like the gracious God He is, He gifts us with all kinds of things. And the truth is, our gifts can and likely will bring us personal joy and satisfaction, but when we use them wisely, they can bring even greater joy and satisfaction to God. And how much more sweet is that? If we kept this calling at the forefront of our minds, imagine how differently we would steward our lives—and everything in it—and how much glory and honor we would bring to Him.

STEWARDSHIP

In simple terms, a steward is a manager. When someone gives me something precious and valuable, the last thing I want to do is mishandle it. If someone entrusts you with something deeply meaningful to them, I’m sure the last thing you want to do is be careless and break their trust. We can apply this to our lives, our abilities, and our possessions—they’re all gifts. Stewardship is the responsibility of upholding, maintaining, and growing whatever has been given to us.

I could give you a million examples of things you’re called to steward. Honestly, everything we have requires our stewardship. The loving relationships you’re part of, the home you live in, your athletic abilities, artistic talents, your gift for speaking and engaging with others, your bank accounts—each of these things calls for your active care.

Think about the small, everyday choices that shape our lives. For instance, how you choose to start your morning is a reflection of how you steward your day. What you put in your body and how you care for it shows how you steward the gift of health. Consider the hundreds of decisions we make each day. We’re living in blessings, and within each choice is an opportunity to steward something well.

Many of us are on autopilot because we forget that everything is God’s—gifted to us for a purpose—and we’re simply meant to take care of it. We steward what we’re given, so that it can flourish the way it’s truly meant to.

Consider this: we can do nothing with our gifts and steer them into the ground, or we can steer them in the direction God intends. Depending on the speed, it might not be obvious which direction we’re going, but there are only two directions. So, I’ve got some hard questions for you to meditate on.

HARD QUESTION 1

What are your gifts, and where is what you’re doing with your gifts leading you?

This question is hard because, first, we need to take inventory of our gifts and we often have more than we realize. After taking inventory, we can then ask, “What am I doing?” and “What have I done with this gift?”—while being real and honest with ourselves. When I took a look at how I’ve used the gifts God has given me, there were moments I could smile about, and others that made me flat out apologize to God. And hey, we’re not Jesus!—we’re going to miss the mark sometimes. That’s a natural part of the perfecting process and of simply being human. But deep down, we all know when we’re really trying and doing, and when we’re not. No excuses, full accountability. Don’t beat yourself up though, just take note.

Life is so funny. Not exactly “haha” funny (though sometimes it is), but more like… very peculiar, funny. And I say it’s funny because we’ve never been here before—so how do you navigate what you don’t know?! We’re all just doing our best in this temporary residence. The fact that our journeys—spiritual and otherwise—are never linear is, to me, a mix of both types of funny at the same time. With there being only two directions you can take your life and all the gifts of it, we can have dips and spikes in either direction. Do you know what I mean? Think of a stock thats ultimately climbing, but might’ve had a few dips within the quarter or year being observed. Or the opposite, a stock that is ultimately declining, but has a few upward spikes within quarter or year being observed. Oh, if only we could have a zoomed out, line chart view of our lives, hm? Because it might be hard to see which direction we’re ultimately going at any given time.

But this is why I ask the second half of the question, where is what you’re doing with your gifts leading you?, because the gifts that God gives are for our good and will lead to good, if we steward them well. For example, this blog, which uses my God-given ability to connect and communicate well in written form, has led me closer to Him and closer to people around me. I could use this gift in many ways, but the way I’m using it here has been leading me to greater personal and spiritual growth. God has also gifted me with a home and the spirit of hospitality. With these gifts, I’ve had the privilege of deepening connections and providing time and space for people I care about. I could choose to use my home just to live in and leave it at that, but instead, I’m using my gifts together, and it is and has been leading me to a greater capacity for generosity.

For good measure I’ll give you an example of the opposite end of the spectrum too. God has gifted me with some level of financial income. Nothin’ crazy, decent living; but I was not stewarding that gift well. I wasn’t in debt, my credit was good, and I could indulge in nights out without breaking the bank, so it’s not like I wasn’t stewarding at all—but I had not been stewarding well. I had an “I’m-doing-good-enough” attitude, and I’m positive that if i continued being a passive steward of this gift I would have been led further away from all the good that God intends for me to have and do for myself, and for others with my finances. A “good enough” attitude allows for easy and almost unnoticeable hemorrhaging, in any area of your life—until something or someone makes you take notice. Like me, you also have a plethora of gifts that you’re actively or passively stewarding that are leading you in one of two directions.

HARD QUESTION 2

If God blessed you with the things you were asking Him for right NOW, would you steward them well?

Be honest! I’ll be honest with you—there are things I’m asking God for that I’m not sure I’d steward well if He gave them to me right now, in this moment. I can only pray that God would shape me, gifting me the character, skills, and wisdom to handle it well when the time comes. Proverbs 20:21 says, “An inheritance obtained too early in life is not a blessing in the end.” And ain’t that the truth?

Imagine being blessed with $5 million at age 16. If you say you would’ve been responsible with that kind of money back then, I know you’re lying! Sure, it’s a blessing, but my lack of financial literacy would’ve turned that blessing into something much less. I probably would’ve foolishly bought a $4 million estate, a few cars, or whatever 16-year-old me was into—and would likely be back to square one, or worse, today.

Now, imagine being blessed with the partner of your dreams but not having the emotional maturity to foster a healthy relationship. Or being gifted with the ability to sing and dance, only to be thrust into super-celebrity fame at a young age. Imagine receiving literally anything worth having, but receiving it before you have the ability to really enjoy it, sustain it, or grow it.

God wants to gift us even more than we can imagine, but at the right time. I’m pretty sure that the right time is closely connected to how we handle what we have at the present moment.

When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. Luke 12:48 NLT

A GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT

As much as I can, I don’t want to spoil or waste anything God entrusts to me, and I’m willing to bet you feel the same way. Being good stewards of what He’s given us not only proves to God that He can trust us with more, but also shapes us into the kind of people who can handle the greater things He has in store. However, as much as we might hope, we don’t just wake up one day knowing how to be great stewards of everything. It’s a process. I think the first step is deciding that we want to be good stewards, and the second is partnering with God in prayer to ask how and where to begin. Matthew 6:33 immediately comes to mind. Ask Him, “God, where should I begin? What do You want me to do with ___? What’s the best way for me to ___? God, please bless me with the skills and abilities to do well for You in the area of ____.” He will answer you.

God has given you dominion, and He is continually equipping you for the reign He has prepared for you. Your stewardship is an act of worship—it’s both your “thank you”, and your way of stepping into the authority and purpose He’s entrusted to you.

STEWARD YOUR:

• Time
• Relationships
• Resources
• Spiritual and Physical Gifts
• Planet

John responded, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. John 3:27 CSB

10 BIBLE VERSES FOR STEWARDSHIP:

• 1 Chronicles 29:14
• Colossians 3:23
• Proverbs 3:9
• 1 Peter 4:10
• Luke 6:38
• Luke 16:10-12
• Matthew 6:33
• Matthew 10:7-8
• James 1:17
• 1 Corinthians 4:2

A PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, I pray that everyone who would lay eyes on this post would come closer to you. That they would reach for you and know you and seek your will for their lives. I pray that they would partner with you to become better and better stewards over every gift you’ve provided. Put their hearts and minds in the right place, set them on the right path, and have your will be done.

Jesus, in your mighty name I pray and trust,

Amen