You're a Manager, Not An Owner

stew·ard·ship: the conducting, supervising, or managing of something;especially : the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care

When you work for a pro soccer team, game days are what you live for.

I was an intern not long ago for Miami FC (now known as the Fort Lauderdale Strikers) and one of my responsibilities was to assist the Media Relations director (my boss) in running the press box. Getting stats to reporters. Tweeting/Facebooking goals and other in-game updates. Posting up pre-game photos. All that stuff. 

Usually, my boss was there. But at one game, he had to go down and take care of some stuff on the field and he left me in charge of running the press box for a little while. I'm not gonna lie. I was pretty nervous. But I was also encouraged that my boss would trust me enough with that responsibility. To hand it off to me.

God does the same with us. If we take an inventory of our lives, we will see that we have been entrusted with a lot of stuff. Maybe it's that job you recently landed. Or that education you are receiving. It could be a certain relationship you have been praying for. Maybe you have a certain skill, gift or ability. 

Whether those things in our possession are tangible or intangible, everything we own has been given to us by God. And in the end, we have to realize that we are not owners of anything, but simply managers of God's resources. And each one of us has a unique set of resources that God has given to us. Some more than others, some with different gifts and different abilities. But each is designed with the purpose of bringing glory to God.

When we adapt that perspective, that nothing is really ours to begin with, it demands that we approach everything differently. It demands that we be more responsible, that we treat everything we have with care and discernment. That's what stewardship is all about. And we will be held accountable for how we managed everything in our own lives.    

If a close friend left you the keys to their house to take care of for an extended period of time, are you going to trash the place? I would hope not. That friend trusted you enough to leave you responsible. When they return, they are going to see how trustworthy you really are.

Over the next few weeks, I want to take a closer look at some of the different aspects of stewardship. But first, we need to take an inventory of what God has entrusted us in our lives right now.

What has God trusted you with? How can you become a better steward and honor God with those things?

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SCRIPTURE REFERENCE: 1 Chronicles 29:12-14, Romans 14:12, Matthew 25:14-30, Galatians 6:4-5