Christian stewardship is the free and joyous activity of God’s family — the church — in managing life’s resources for His purposes. It involves using what God has given us according to His purposes for use in our vocations in home, church and society. It is about the generosity of our Lord toward us in Jesus and our Holy Spirit-inspired response of generosity toward others.
Martin Luther, in The First Article of the Small Catechism tell us:
I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true.
Every child of God is called to be a steward of what the Lord entrusts to him or her. God has created us for this free and joyous task (Gen. 2:15). When our stewardship failed (Gen.3), the Lord redeemed us through His work on the cross. We are restored to our role as stewards by virtue of our Baptism into Christ. The Holy Spirit calls us by the Gospel as He gathers, enlightens, sanctifies and keeps us in the one true faith (Small Catechism, Article 3 explanation). Our entire life of stewardship is then a response to this wonderful mercy shown us by our Lord (Rom. 12:1-2).
Be Generous! In all that you do. All of life and life’s resources for God’s purposes — this is whole-life stewardship.
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