Being a Good Steward

This week I am studying God's word on being a good steward.  What does the word steward mean?

a person who manages another's property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.  And since everything belongs to God being a good steward means:  someone who is doing the best he can with what God has given to him.

In I Corinthians 4:2 it says:  Moreover it is required in stewards that one can be found faithful.

Let's look at the Matthew 25: 14-30

A Story About Three Servants

 ¹⁴ “At that time God’s kingdom will also be like a man leaving home to travel to another place for a visit. Before he left, he talked with his servants. He told his servants to take care of his things while he was gone. ¹⁵ He decided how much each servant would be able to care for. The man gave one servant five bags of money. ^[a] He gave another servant two bags. And he gave a third servant one bag. Then he left. ¹⁶ The servant who got five bags went quickly to invest the money. Those five bags of money earned five more. ¹⁷ It was the same with the servant who had two bags. That servant invested the money and earned two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who got one bag of money went away and dug a hole in the ground. Then he hid his master’s money in the hole.  ¹⁹ “After a long time the master came home. He asked the servants what they did with his money. ²⁰ The servant who got five bags brought that amount and five more bags of money to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you trusted me to care for five bags of money. So I used them to earn five more.’
 ²¹ “The master answered, ‘You did right. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with that small amount of money. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’
 ²² “Then the servant who got two bags of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of money to care for. So I used your two bags to earn two more.’
 ²³ “The master answered, ‘You did right. You are a good servant who can be trusted. You did well with a small amount of money. So I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my happiness with me.’
 ²⁴ “Then the servant who got one bag of money came to the master. The servant said, ‘Master, I knew you were a very hard man. You harvest what you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not put any seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid. I went and hid your money in the ground. Here is the one bag of money you gave me.’
 ²⁶ “The master answered, ‘You are a bad and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest what I did not plant and that I gather crops where I did not put any seed. ²⁷ So you should have put my money in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would get my money back. And I would also get the interest that my money earned.’
 ²⁸ “So the master told his other servants, ‘Take the one bag of money from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags. ²⁹ Everyone who uses what they have will get more. They will have much more than they need. But people who do not use what they have will have everything taken away from them.’ ³⁰ Then the master said, ‘Throw that useless servant outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain'

So, I think this lesson explains perfectly how God wants us to be.  I know when I am standing before God I hope to hear what verse 21 says:  "You did right. You are a good servant who can be trusted"

I don't want to hear what was said in verse 30:   ‘Throw that useless servant outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain'

Why do you think the master was angry with the lazy servant?
What happened to the lazy servant?
What happened to the good servant who took care of the master's money?
Why do you think we should be good stewards of what we have?  Because everything that we have actually belongs to God.  We build God up by being careful with what He gave to us.

God gives everyone something different to do for Him.   To find out what we should be doing we need to stay in God's word and talk to Him everyday so He can lead us to what we need to be doing.

How do you think being a good steward effects others?
How do you think being a good steward will effect our relationship with Jesus?

We're all in different situations so I want you to think on how each of you can practice being a good steward for Jesus.