The way my older daughter responds to her baby brother’s cry will not cease to amaze me. The other day, she jumped out of her sleep to go pet the brother. The mum also told me that, sometimes, in the middle of the night, she would leave her room to come check on Daniel anytime she hears his voice. We have chosen to call her assistant mother. But she also taught me something about kingdom stewardship.
Friend, you need to understand kingdom stewardship. A kingdom steward handles stuff as if they are his own (1 Corinthians 4:1-2). He owns something without owning it. This is what the ownership spirit is about. It is about handling what is not yours as if it is yours. It is about taking care of what is given to you to keep with a sense of stewardship. A true steward must have an ownership mindset.
God often tests our faithfulness by checking how we handle what is small, what belongs to another person, and how we handle finances (Luke 16:10-12). If you fail in any of these three, you are not a good steward. One of the truths you have got to accept in life is that you will not always own things. But you would be expected to handle what someone else owns.
Not everybody will have their own business; a lot will have to work for another person (Colossians 3:22-24). Not everyone will start a church or ministry. Most of us will team up with a founder to fulfil our ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). For a season in your life, you would be required to take care of another person’s child while you are expecting your own. How would you take care of that child?
Sometimes, God would watch how you take care of another man’s stuff in order to qualify you for your own. If you cannot handle what belongs to another person, you may never be giving your own (Luke 16:12). As a tenant in an apartment, how do you take care of that rented house? Do you take care of it in such a way that the landlord blesses you genuinely from his heart, or have you incured curses because of bad management?
David is a biblical example of a kingdom steward. He handled his father’s sheep as if they were his, risking his life to account for all (1 Samuel 17:34-37). When he was to go to check his brethren, he handed over the sheep to someone reliable (1 Samuel 17:20-22). What a stewardship mindset! The next time you wonder why David was a man after God’s heart, don’t only check his worship life, also check his stewardship mentality.
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria