According to the prosperity principle of giving and receiving, when we give bountifully with love and cheerfulness—out of a heart of thankfulness—we receive God’s bountiful blessings.
Luke 6:38:
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
As we prove in our lives this wonderful principle, we also need to understand how to steward the abundance God supplies. Biblically, at the foundation of stewardship is faithfulness on the part of the steward. Three practical ways that we can be faithful in our financial stewardship are (1) to give systematically and cheerfully, (2) to work heartily, and (3) to live within our means.
We give systematically and cheerfully. We systematically plan our financial giving as the priority in our budget.
Proverbs 3:9:
Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.
Each time we receive an “increase,” such as a paycheck, we give financially off of that income. We are to give cheerfully with a desire to honor and glorify God every time we give financially.
II Corinthians 9:7:
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
Next, we work heartily as to the Lord. We are honest with our time and resources, and we demonstrate the integrity of our Christian character in our work. Why? We represent our heavenly Father. We have the opportunity and privilege to glorify God in the way that we work. We know that whatever we do can be done “heartily, as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23).
A manager position became available at my workplace. After an honest self-review, I recognized that I lacked the qualifications of an ideal candidate, and I made the hiring manger aware that I would not be applying for the position. He asked if we could discuss this further. He told me that he admired my work ethic, recognized my leadership abilities, and had confidence that I would be able to close the gap with the resources he was able to provide. Encouraged, I applied for the position.
I recognized that I needed to go to God’s Word to best prepare for the interview. I studied the record of Joseph in the Book of Genesis, where he was thrust into several situations he wasn’t ideally qualified for. Ultimately, Joseph progressed from being sold into slavery by his brothers to becoming second in command in Egypt because the Lord was with him. The learning I received from this record built my confidence that God would cause all that I did to prosper, because I knew the Lord was with me as He was with Joseph.
I was awarded the manager position and went on to lead one of the department’s largest teams to the greatest outcome recorded within the company. I gave God the glory as I worked heartily, knowing that He had caused the company and me to prosper.
Finally, we can be faithful in our financial stewardship as we live within our means. We live within our means by spending only what we have available to us, that is, not spending more than we earn. Two ways we can keep our thoughts lined up with this principle are to be content with what we have and to not compare what we have with what others have.
I Timothy 6:6 says that “…godliness with contentment is great gain.” The word “contentment” means “satisfaction with what one has.” The more abundant life that Jesus Christ came to make available is not measured by the number of things we accumulate. We renew our minds to stay content with having all our needs supplied, leaving no place for greed or covetousness in our lives.
II Corinthians 10:12 says in part, “but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” There will always be someone who has more than we have materially, and there will always be someone who has less than we have materially. What others have in the material realm is not our standard for contentment and living.
We’ve considered three practical ways that we can be faithful in our financial stewardship. We can (1) give systematically and cheerfully, (2) work heartily, and (3) live within our means. We know we have great abundance spiritually. Practicing these three principles will help us be faithful stewards of God’s abundance to us financially.