Owned by God to be used for God’s Purpose
If you’ve been around financial stewardship circles for a while, you’ve probably heard the phrase, “God owns it all.” And you’ve probably been taught that you’re a steward or manager of everything God has temporarily entrusted to your care.
But I suspect that while many of us believe on some level those ideas are true, they may not fully inform how we live. So, let’s take a few minutes to consider what it might look like if they did.
More Gratitude
If we lived from the truth that everything we have is a gift from God, wouldn’t we be more grateful for what we have instead of unhappy about what we don’t have? So much of the messaging we take in every day tells us we’ll be so much happier if we owned this or that. It’s designed to make us unhappy with our current situation and to make us believe happiness is just one more purchase away.
One of the most important findings from the field of positive psychology is that we don’t base our satisfaction on what we have or what we’re experiencing or how much we earn. We base it on comparisons. We compare what we have to what we used to have or what others have and gauge our satisfaction accordingly.
This is such a big deal that God made “Do not covet” one of the 10 Commandments. Quitting the comparison game requires a conscious decision to do so. That can be tough, especially because of social media.
Gratitude is a central part of the solution—consciously, regularly giving thanks for the many blessings in our lives.
More Sharing
I had a mentor who used a sticker to remind us to be willing to share. The first part of the sticker said: “Owned by God” which is a phrase we may hear often. But the second part gets less attention: “To be used for God’s purposes.”
Do a quick mental inventory of your stuff. What’s on the list? A house? A car or two? A grill? A snow blower? A set of golf clubs? A dining room table and chairs? Money in the bank? What have you used for God’s purposes and what have you never thought of in that way?
What new relationship could be built through an invitation to your dining room? Or an open invitation to borrow your golf clubs, or even your car?
More Joy
A common mistake people make when they think of what it means to be a steward of God’s resources is they imagine God saying to them, “Here’s some of my stuff. Now don’t break or lose any of it. Be really careful with it.” Not exactly very empowering. In fact, that might have been what the third servant in the Parable of the Talents misunderstood the master’s instructions to be.
If you look at what happens in the parable, the two servants who multiplied what was entrusted to them were the ones God affirmed. And then he entrusted them with more!
It’s as if God is saying to each of us, “Here’s some of my stuff. And here’s my instruction book of what to do with it. Use it to show people who I am. Use it to help reach more people with my message of hope. Use it to love well the people I put in your life. Use it to take the gifts, talents, and passions I’ve given you to make a difference in the world. Use what I’ve entrusted to you in these ways and watch me multiply it and the impact I’ll have through you. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Now, that’s empowering!
Learning to Let Go
I’ve written before about how my family’s move from Chicago to Louisville caused me to loosen my grip on place as a part of my identity. I love Chicago and long thought of myself as a Chicagoan. Moving was painful. We left family. And I felt like I lost part of my identity.
We still miss our family, but I’ve learned to let go of seeing where I live as part of who I am. In fact, I find it freeing. I feel like I’m living more in concert with my design. After all, the Bible says that we’re just passing through this place!
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” – Philippians 3:20-21 (ESV)
Loosening our grip on stuff can be freeing as well. Marketers would have us believe we are what we drive or what we wear. But we’re not. If we’ve placed our faith in Christ, John 1:12 says “He gave the right to become children of God.” (ESV) That’s a stunning reality and it has nothing to do with how much money we earn or where we can afford to go on vacation.
Just as earthly parents delight in providing for their children, God delights in providing for us. And not just our basic needs. Incredibly, the Bible says God gives us all things for our enjoyment!
“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” – 1 Timothy 6:17
More
The culture tells us the path toward happiness is spelled M-O-R-E. More money. More stuff. More experiences.
The Bible lays out a path toward something far more important, a path toward greater joy. The guideposts are more gratitude, more sharing, and a daily recognition that everything is a gift from God to be used for His purposes.