Monday, June 18, 2012

Generosity-Ownership-Stewardship


Here's something that just came to me last week and I wanted to share it even though I'm still researching it. The issue of stewardship versus ownership presents an interesting quandary regarding what our generosity reflects. Sometimes a discussion regarding generosity can seems to focus on the benevolence of our heart.

While God's end goal is the transformation of our hearts. The first step in that process may be our simply obedience. If we accept the fact that God is the owner and we are simply stewards of His possession, then our primary job is to be responsive to His directions, preferences and prompting for the use of his possession.

Faithful stewardship requires that we manage His possession in manner that reflects the heart of the owner, even if that does not yet reflect our own heart. The owner is generous. While we are getting there we should still act as faithful stewards. The priority of our giving should be to respond to God's will rather than our own.

However, God desires that over time our heart would reflect His heart. It is far easier to execute one's stewardship when your heart is in it. God gives His possession to us as part of His plan to transform us to become like Him, to make us generous. He enriches us that we may abound in good work. He enriches us to increase the harvest of our righteousness. He enriches us that we would become generous.
2 Cor 9: 8-11


Larry