Day Thirty-Seven
TRUSTEESHIP
He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
—LUKE 16:10-11
We have been exploring this underlying topic of trusteeship throughout our entire journey together. You could also call it stewardship. In the same measure that God stewards you with gifts, talents, and favor, He entrusts you with finances. It is prosperity with purpose and money with meaning. Your level of trustworthiness with what you are presently being given determines your qualification for increase.
To be a trustee is to manage assets on behalf of another. What they manage must be used to fund various projects, endeavors, or institutions as specified by the true owner of the trust. The older term for this, which is more frequently used in the Church, is “stewardship.” It is a term, however, that has lost much of its meaning. We have used the language of financial stewardship so much in the Church world that we have limited our understanding of its greater scope and purpose. It is not exclusive to giving tithes and offerings at church—this is merely one expression of it. In fact, stewardship and trusteeship is not just about giving. It is about ownership.
The place where we get into trouble is when we give a certain percentage—let’s say ten percent—and then assume the other ninety percent is ours to spend as we would like. That is a misperception. You see, we don’t own any of it. It all belongs to God. Scripture reinforces this consistently. (See Psalm 50:10; Haggai 2:8.) As such, we are trustees of the finances that flow through our hands, and if we are spending everything on ourselves, we are taking the “trust” out of “trusteeship.” We need to elevate our understanding of what trusteeship looks like in order to walk in true financial prosperity. In the book, I give you a picture of how to appropriately view the remaining 90 percent of your finances, and how that amount should specifically be allocated.
In order to embrace this ownership shift—that all of it belongs to God—I want to give you a very encouraging visual. I heard one leader present it this way: It is living with your hands open. In this state, there is a constant flow—in and out. Finances come in, and they go out. And yet, once they go out, they come back in again. Likewise, when your fists are tightly clenched around what you perceive to be yours, you are unable to receive (and thus, release) the increase. Ownership opens your hands for greater levels of increase and prosperity than you can imagine. The key is living as though none of it is yours and that all of it is God’s property.
Jesus makes the issue of trusteeship very clear in Luke 16. There is something about how we can be trusted with finances (which Jesus calls “unrighteous mammon”) that positions us to experience increase, not only financially but also, more importantly, in what are true riches. This intrigues and inspires me. I want to empower you to be a person God can trust with His true riches. So where do you begin?
Simple. Commit everything to God, recognizing that He owns it all—not just the percent that goes to a church or ministry. And live with hands open, always ready to receive and release the supernatural prosperity that you are entrusted with.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How do you understand financial stewardship?
In what ways does your perspective of money change when you realize that God owns everything?
What does it look like to you to live with “hands open”?
ACTION STEPS
Abundance isn’t God’s provision for me to live in luxury. It’s His provision for me to help others live. God entrusts me with His money not to build my kingdom on earth, but to build His Kingdom in heaven.
—RANDY ALCORN
Get ready to change the way you see money, prosperity, and increase. I want to help you live as a representative of God’s Kingdom, with hands open before the Giver of all good things. Remember, He wants to release finances for you to receive in order for you to release them again. How are you currently living? Are your hands closed or open when it comes to the finances you are receiving?