Faithful Stewardship

Faithful Stewardship

Title: Faithful Stewardship
The focus word for today is ‘Faithful Stewardship’ and the verse is from 1Cor 4.2 which says, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”
Declaration: I am faithful with what God has entrusted to me: increase and promotion follow faithfulness.
Principles of Faithful Stewardship
1.     Everything we have belongs to God.
Everything is from Him, through Him and to Him. Understand that we are not the owners of anything. Everything including ourselves belongs to Him; even if we have paid the bill and purchased something, it belongs to God. God owns everything!
Stewardship begins with the basic foundational understanding that we are not the owners but managers, caretakers of what God has placed in our hands. This knowledge is the foundation of faithful stewardship. Our time, talents, resources, opportunities, the trust placed in us from Heaven, money, especially opportunities, all are God given gifts.
Ps. 24.1 – “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it ….”
Everything belongs to God. He owns the title deed. So many things are government property; when in reality they are heavenly government property. The Indian government has hectares of land taken up by parties, corporate firms, affluent families, land mafia etc. It all still belongs to God and we are the tenants only.
Lk 16.10 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much; and whoever is dishonest with little will also be dishonest with much.
We need to be faithful even in the minutest of things. In the Annual Ministers’ Conference, held on 26th January, I had focused on this very verse and subsequent verses 11 and 12 and taught about faithfulness in three areas namely – faithfulness in small things, money matters and handling others’ assets. This takes you to increase and promotion. Many do not see promotion and increase simply because they are not faithful in the smallest of things. Faithful leads to promotion and it comes from God and not your boss or team leader.
A caretaker does not own the house. He merely manages it responsibly until the owner returns. An illustration would be of 75 cents of land in Pathanamthitta with a mansion and swimming pool. Owners are in America and a caretaker has been appointed to maintain the house and garden. Similarly, we are caretakers of God’s resources and not owners.
2.     Faithfulness matters more than size.
God is not impressed by how much we have but by how faithfully we use what we have because ultimately all that we have on earth will be passed on, and we leave earth without any of this. How many highly affluent people have seen downfalls leading them to leave the country or take their own lives or become bankrupt and entrapped or ensnared in problems; some being killed or taken their own lives. We see all of this. We need to live in the sound knowledge that none of this is ours. In our lifetime, God has given certain things to take care of. That’s all. Small obedience prepares us for greater responsibilities.
Mt. 25.2 states “……. well done good and faithful servant! ”
Col 3.23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, …..”
Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly even if no one is watching over you. We are working for God; some may be placed over us as authority to whom we report. But that is not our concern. Rather, we should be faithful even in the minutest of works because we are doing it for God.
According to Pro. 28.20, a faithful person will be richly blessed …….
For example, a big palace needs only a small key to open. Similarly, faithfulness in small things; unseen by others brings/unlocks great opportunities for us.
3.     Stewardship requires discipline and integrity
We need to discipline ourselves and be of integrity. Faithful Stewardship means handling God’s gifts, resources with honesty, order and responsibility because God trusts those who walk in integrity.
In Titus 1.7, we see that a steward must be blameless. The same is said of Daniel and Joseph; owners of clean characters. To the people working, even the ministers in the Blessing Today offices, in different departments, I tell them it is not about generating a report or pleasing others; even if you are not monitored you do your work because that is what God sees when all others are considered as unfaithful. God does not place trust in such kind.
According to Pro. 11.3, the integrity of the upright guides them.
Lk.12.42 talks about “……. the faithful and wise manager…...”
For illustration purposes, consider a bank where many employees and peons are working. There are errand runners while some work in the cash department, in the loan department and various other departments. The managers scrutinize to see who is faithful and dedicated and consider them for promotion. Similarly, God has given us many blessings, talents, and resources. God keeps a watchful eye on how we utilize what He has given us. Just as managers watch over employees; so too God monitors us.
4.     Faithfulness leads to increase and promotion.
God rewards faithfulness with growth, favour and expansion. Promotion does not come by striving but by serving well. I get many messages of those who do not receive their rightful promotion. There are situations of people receiving undue favours/promotions through lobbyists or paying cash to get the position, but for how long? God will one day remove such people.
But those who work with integrity and are faithful, God will promote someday, some time, somehow.
Ps. 75. 6 and 7 tells us that promotion comes from the Lord.
In Gen 39.4, Joseph found favour because he was faithful.
According to Lk 16.12, if you have not been faithful, who will trust you with true riches?
I have spoken of the three areas of trust; the third which involves taking care of others’ property; if one is not faithful in that, then how can the person be entrusted with things himself.
Prior to ‘Blessing Today’ operations and Spiritual movements; God placed me in work places like educational institutions, a publishing house… even worked in an advertisement company, at different levels under different authorities, management. God was watching me. I didn’t land directly into God’s work. I was positioned to work under authority, learn on the go, working the sweat of my brow and only then, God used me and blessed me for the growth of this ministry.
Even your commitment to watching Morning Glory and taking notes, studying the Word, meditating and praying on it and embracing the Word …. God will honour and bless you!
Faithful Stewardship is a lifestyle of obedience and trust. When we honour God with what He has placed in our hands, He entrusts us with more! This year, God will give you more – more finances, more souls for ministers, more wisdom. Be faithful with what you have been entrusted.
Faithfulness today prepares the way for promotion tomorrow.
Be faithful in your work. If you are a homemaker, even if you stay in a rental house, take good care of it as if it were your own. Kshama Sr. used to do it. She would maintain the rented house as her own, making it clean, maintaining a garden etc. At the end of our rental tenure, the owners would appreciate how well we had kept the house and would on occasion, even refund the amount on whatever works we had undertaken in the house. We do it with all sincerity; only then will we be directed to our own property. It trains us to take care of our own when we come into it and not destroy what is entrusted to us.
Whoever’s house it is; take good care of it; learn to take care of relationships; learn to walk faithfully with God because God always blesses those who prove faithful with what He has given them even the small things.
Decide today and declare – I will be faithful in each and everything to God; in my own matters and others’ matters, trustworthy in small things and finances.