The Faithful Steward

1 Corinthians 4:2

Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.

The term steward may not be a real familiar term with many folks today. We don’t hear it used very much these days. But, I think you probably have a general idea of what it means to be a steward. In general, a steward is one who watches over property, business or belongings for someone else.

In a Biblical context, man is considered a steward over things that belong to God. Remember, the Bible says that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. Now the ramifications of this are very far reaching and we cannot address all the questions that this verse raises. For example, a man who is not born again is not of God but of the devil and therefore anything that he has is not for him, but for the children of God. The wealth of the wicked is held in store for the righteous. But, for today, we are only addressing the Christian and stewardship.

First, notice that for a man to be a steward, he is to be found faithful. Now all are stewards over some things. Yet for one to be steward over much, he must first be proven faithful. It must be that God can trust him with His things.

Secondly, by the very nature of stewardship, we acknowledge that nothing that we have is really ours, but all belongs to God. We are only watching over it for Him and are responsible to do with it as He says and as He pleases.

Here is the liberating truth of faithful stewardship. If the devil comes to you and threatens to take all you have if you don’t serve him, you can say go ahead, I have nothing. Then if he says that he will give you all you want, you can say that you already have all you want. You see a steward owns nothing, but has access to everything. What a blessed place to be in, be a faithful steward of God’s things.