Money Reveals True Self & Spiritual State|9 Resources You Must Steward

“Papa, are going to wash our car?” asked our daughter.

“Yes. But that’s not your car. It’s for your mummy and me.”

“No. It is our car.”

I could see by the look on her face that she was struggling to understand the car isn’t hers.

I told her, “When you complete your studies, you’ll work and make money so you can buy your car.”

Some Christians believe everything they own is theirs. Others believe everything God owns belongs to them and He has stored the wealth of the wicked for them. (Proverbs 13:22) So they go about claiming houses, cars, jobs and businesses but most of them live to see none of it. As we shall see later, that’s a misunderstanding of the scriptures.

You Own Nothing

God owns you and everything you are and have. That makes you a steward and you have to manage and take good care of all He has entrusted to you.

When I listen to interviews of successful and wealthy people, I shudder at the pride and arrogance they speak with. Somehow, they think their education, hard work, connections and persistence have brought them to where they are. They don’t realize that thousands of others have done the same and not achieved the same results.

God alone deserves the credit for all our achievements. He gives us life, health and the ability to make wealth. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. Sometimes we think Satan makes people rich, but does he? If He did, won’t he make all wicked people rich? God is the one who makes some rich and others poor. (Proverbs 22:2) Satan simply corrupts the good and has no power to override what God has decreed. If God wants someone rich or poor, nobody and nothing can stop Him.

If we own nothing, and God is the owner, that makes us stewards of everything we have. We’re managing the money and possessions on His behalf.

Many times, after giving to support God’s work at our local churches, we set off to spend the remaining money without consulting God.

Knowing that ownership of everything you have belongs to God takes away the stress of losing anything. You can’t lose what’s not yours though you take care of it as if it’s yours. If my family, business, job and life belong to God, then I can’t lose them because I gave up the ownership on the day I realized they belonged to God and surrendered them to Him.

My Journey Of Becoming A Steward

I’m grateful to God and my parents for getting me a university education where I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, finance and banking. That laid a good foundation for where I was going.

After graduation in November 2010, I organized an entrepreneurship training in partnership with Uganda Investment Authority for 30 youth in my church for five days. On the last day of training, we were challenged to start businesses but we didn’t have capital. So, the idea of starting a savings and credit cooperative society (sacco) was birthed.

We started pooling our little savings together and on March 27^th 2011, we registered Goldlines Sacco. I volunteered to serve as the board chairperson for three years and served seven years as the CEO. It grew from zero to the current financial position of over USD 260,000!

By God’s grace, I led and gave me best to Goldlines Sacco as I would my own business. The salary was little but the lessons I learnt and the people I met during that time are priceless.

While there, I began writing the book Money & Business Stewardship. I thank God for Danstan Kisuule, CEO of Y-Save Sacco for teaching us about money and mentoring us to build a flourishing Sacco. I’m also grateful for the mentorship of the wonderful men and women who served alongside me on the board and supervisory committee. I can’t forget the many lessons I learnt from the successes and failures of Goldlines’ members.

Now I know the power and potential of money and greatly appreciate my duty as a steward of everything I have. God has entrusted me with the assignment of nourishing others with biblical truths for wholesome living and leading.

Nine Resources We Steward

Stewardship as a Christian means God has given you the obligation and responsibility of managing His resources. He expects diligence and careful handling of everything He has entrusted to you.

Then one day, He will demand accountability and reward you according to your performance. (Matthew 25:19, Ephesians 6:8, 1 Corinthians 3:14).

Here are the nine resources God entrusts to us:

#1: Money

The cover of our book Money & Business Stewardship shows a junction of two roads. One road points to money and another to God. Choosing one takes you further from the other. That’s why Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters.” (Matthew 6:24)

#2: Time

We all have 24 hours in a day. We can waste or invest these precious hours. And as we learnt in school, time wasted can never be recovered.

Therefore, how we spend our time determines what we become in life. We should learn to number our days and become wise in the way we live. (Psalms 90:12) How are you managing your time? Are there activities or people who waste your time? Are you known as a timekeeper?

#3: Family

Every relationship is a trust, responsibility or custody from God. Parents are responsible for their children, teachers for their students, pastors for their congregation, employers for their employees and government leaders for their citizens.

God will demand an account of how we took care of the people He entrusted to our care and how we obeyed the authority figures He placed above us. (1 Timothy 5:8, Romans 13:1)

#4: Thoughts

God sees our thoughts. And because our thoughts lead to actions, we should manage our thoughts well, guard them against bad influences and subject them to the correction, rebuke and sharpening of God’s Word. (Proverbs 4:23)

#5: Words

We’re responsible for the words we speak. In fact, we shall give an account of every word that comes from our mouths. That’s why we should be quick to listen and slow to speak. (Matthew 12:26, James 1:19) And we use our words to encourage and build others.

#6: Job/Business

God gives us jobs and businesses to manage with biblical and ethical principles. We don’t serve men or our employer but Christ. Therefore, we shall give an account to Christ on the day of judgement. (Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:23)

#7: Body

God dwells in our mortal bodies through the Holy Spirit. They’re His property. Therefore, we should honour God with our bodies by keeping them pure, exercising them regularly, feeding them well, giving them rest once a week from work and getting enough sleep at night.

#8: Property

Whether we own or rent a property, God expects us to handle them well. (Luke 16:12) God is watching how we take care of the houses we live in, the cars, bicycles, clothes, shoes and everything else we own.

#9: Creation/Environment

God gave mankind the world and all that’s in it to dominate and subdue. He created everything with Christ and through Christ for His glory. The animals on land and the fish in the sea are our responsibility – to nurture, protect and preserve.

The well-being of our environment and climate should be our concern and responsibility. I was one day shocked to learn that God hates shooting animals for sport. (Proverbs 12:27) Remember that God created a beautiful and productive world to sustain our lives. We destroy ourselves when we destroy our environment.

The temptation of stewards is to squander or waste what God has entrusted to them. For instance, the prodigal son took his inheritance and wasted it all. (Luke 15:11-32) Elsewhere, a master left a servant in charge of the estate but found the servant mistreating workers and partying. (Matthew 24:45-51) As stewards, we need to examine our stewardships so God will find us doing what He told us to do.

In the end, faithfulness is the measure of success in our stewardship.

God doesn’t look at the fatness of our bank accounts, the possessions in our names, the awards of our achievements or the popularity of our brands. None of these will count in eternity. He simply wants us to be faithful stewards of the much or little He has placed in our care.

Money Competes With God

The greatest competition for the attention of our hearts with God is money. We spend lots of time rebuking and casting out Satan and demons and fail to discern his schemes of keeping our focus and devotion to money. This is one of the tools he uses to entice and wreck the faith of many Christians.

Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” (Matthew 6:24) This a direct statement and an absolute truth. We can either accept or reject it. There is no middle ground.

If you love money, you automatically hate and despise God. If you truly love God, then you’ll automatically hate and despise money!

This is hard!

Who hates money? I didn’t, and perhaps I still have residues of loving money. But I am learning to hate and despise money compared to loving my Lord and God.

The hate of money is like the hate for a wife, and children compared to loving God…the more the love of God possesses our hearts and minds, the more our desire for money and worldly riches dies. We ease to be slaves of money and become friends of Christ who are concerned about spiritual and heavenly things rather than earthly and physical things.

Apostle Paul says, “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:2-3)

The desire to become rich and richer than others drives many people to work hard but this should never be what drives the life of a Christian. That’s what King Solomon observed and wrote, “…most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 4:4) Have you ever asked yourself why you want to be successful in life?

We should be driven by the desire to please God and do His will. Otherwise, we won’t find fulfilment in life.

And as we shall discuss later in the dangers of greed, Apostle Paul wrote warned us saying, “But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.” (1 Timothy 6:9)

If you uprooted the desire to become rich, what more would you live for? If you became the richest person in the world, would you still work and seek the Lord as you do now?

Money Reveals Who We Are

Notes, coins, cheques, debit and credit cards are powerful in the world. They are the language every nation, tribe and clan speak.

A quick look at someone’s expenses list can tell you almost everything about them. That’s because;

#1: Money is an indicator of a person’s priorities or what matters most to them.

#2: Money is an amplifier of a person’s true self. If someone is a giver, the more they get, the more they give. If they’re a miser, the more they get, the less they give.

#3: Money is a tester of character. Different levels of possessing material wealth attract different tests to pass and challenges to overcome.

#4: Money is an enabler. King Solomon said that money answers all things because it gets things done and gives us many options.

The Best Benefit of Being Trustworthy

Because money is powerful and it tests our character, God entrusts true spiritual riches to those who pass the tests of money. Jesus said, “And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?”  (Luke 16:11)

In other words, our mishandling of finances is a sign of spiritual immaturity and unreadiness to understand and be entrusted with the true riches of heaven that are more precious than worldly wealth. Isn’t this profound?

Unresolved money issues can be a hindering stronghold in our minds and a stranglehold in our service to God. The lure or deceitfulness of wealth and cares of this world choke God’s Word rendering us fruitless like the seeds that fell in thorns. (Matthew 13:22)

Please note that money is neither bad nor the problem.

The problem is our sinful nature that loves and uses money for selfish ends and ungodly pleasure. (James 4:3) The tentacles of the spirit of mammon have spread all around the world, choking the faith and discrediting the testimony of God’s children.

When we get a biblical understanding of the God we serve and our identity in Christ, we get the right perspective about our purpose in life and what fruit God expects of us.

On the day you stand before God, may He say to you, “‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’” (Matthew 25:23)

In the next article on Money Stewardship, we shall discuss about the 10 Biblical Dangers Of Greed Or Loving Money. Three men paid a high price for their greed. Please SUBSCRIBE to be notified when we post a new article.

Thank you for reading this article. I welcome your comments and questions – as iron sharpens iron, let’s sharpen each other.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.