A steward is someone chosen and allowed to manage someone else’s resources, someone who gets to use someone else’s stuff on their behalf. A steward is responsible for the proper use of things that do not belong to him, even though he might get to use these things as if they do belong to him.
We Christians like to talk about how we are stewards of or for God. Everything you see and know belongs to God and He lets us use it, so we should use it wisely and carefully. But how often do we really think about that? How often do we really act like we believe it?
Even when we do think about being stewards, we usually think about money and that’s it. But everything you have is there because God lets you have it, the good and the bad.
Godly stewardship isn’t just about managing money. It’s about properly using all of the things God gave you. Your money isn’t yours, including what you get to keep after tithing. Your resources aren’t yours, including your house, food, and clothing. Your abilities and talents aren’t yours, including things you can practice and things with which you can make money. Your body isn’t yours, including the actions you take with it, its health, and how you present it.
But don’t feel that God is a harsh owner of things! Just because none of these things are yours doesn’t mean that God will instantly smite thee with lightning for messing up. God loves us, so He gives us plenty of chances and even helps us with instructions. He even gives people who don’t believe in Him things to have and to handle.