All who follow Christ are called to be good stewards.
Scripture teaches us to steward our time, finances, and gifts well. How are we stewarding our resources well, and how are we training others to do the same?
The Holman Bible Dictionary defines stewardship as “Utilizing and managing all resources God provides for the glory of God and the betterment of His creation”.
Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”
As leaders in nonprofit, we have the opportunity to steward all God has given us well and for His glory. We set the tone for good stewardship within our organizations, with those we lead, and within the communities we serve.
First and foremost, we must commit our work to the Lord.
When we fully commit all our work to the Lord, our time will be well spent supporting His kingdom work, our finances will be committed to seeing fruit for His kingdom, and our gifts will be focused on seeing His work done through us.
In Matthew 25, Jesus compares stewardship to three servants who were entrusted with an amount of money each by their master while he was away. The man given five bags immediately went out and put his money to work. The man given two bags immediately went out and put his money to work. The man given one bag dug a hole to hide his amount until the master returned.
Like these men in the parable Jesus shared, we are all given various talents - whether it be the amount of money we have, the types of gifts we have been given, or the amount of time we have.
Our purpose is not to compare our talents to the talents of others around us, but we are to go right now and put them to work for our Lord.
Our work may not look the same as our neighbors, but when our Lord returns, He will say, “Well done good and faithful servant” to all who worked to steward our talents well.