Good Stewardship 101 by Lauren Smith

In today’s society, it is the norm to believe that the money we earned from our hard labor belongs to us and can be spent as we please. What if I told you that money doesn’t belong to you? It’s the truth. As children of God, we belong to God because He purchased us by sacrificing His son, Jesus Christ, to pay a debt we could not pay—death.
Therefore, we are God’s property; everything He created is His. All our possessions such as money, cars and clothes all belong to God. He also owns us! Psalm 50:10-12 says, “for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.”
So, when a friend or close relative needs financial assistance, or you are struggling to commit to paying tithes and offering, remember that your money is not yours at all, but God’s. We need to be good stewards by using money wisely because we are not the primary owners of it. Shopping down to your last penny is not good stewarding because you have no money for possible emergencies or future needs. God desires us to manage our finances by budgeting and make sure to spend money within our means. Take care of it like God takes care of you.