The heart of a healthy steward

Most of us remember our first paycheck. That thin envelope felt like we had finally arrived. Many of us also remember how money sounded at home: the quiet when bills had stacked up, the sting when a job vanished, or the celebration of a raise.

We all have an emotional relationship with money. The trouble starts when that history, rather than the heart of God, steers how we handle what we have. Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.”

For more than fifty years, Christian financial teacher Ron Blue has pressed one conviction to the front of that conversation: God owns it all. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness of it.” If that is true, money is not a private stash; it is a trust. Blue’s line is as freeing as it is sharp. If God owns it all, you cannot lose what was never yours to keep. You can only manage it or bury it.

Jesus described a landowner who left town and gave three servants bags of gold. Two put the money to work. One dug a hole in the yard and buried the bag, afraid of losing what had never been his. When the master came home, he did not praise the man who kept the gold safe in the dirt. He praised the ones who treated the gift as seed.

Blue returns to that parable often because stewardship cannot be faked. The buried bag looks careful. In the story, it is unbelief dressed up as caution. Healthy stewardship isn't about anxiety concerning scarcity. It is trust that what God places in our hands can grow.

From that heart, Blue draws five habits he has taught families, business leaders, and even a U.S. Senate committee. They work, he says, at every income level. They're also the habits Scripture has been saying all along.

1. Spend less than you earn. Every other financial success depends on this one. Proverbs 13:11 says wealth gathered by honest labor increases. Live beyond what comes in, and you cannot give, save, or walk free.

2. Avoid the use of debt. Blue’s warning is the same as Proverbs 22:7. The borrower is servant to the lender. Debt always mortgages the future. Some debts arrive in a crisis. Making debt a habit hands the reins of our days to someone else.

3. Give generously. Giving, Blue says, breaks the power of money. Paul wrote that the one who sows sparingly reaps sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully reaps bountifully. God loves a cheerful giver. Generosity is not a tax on faith. It is a way of saying God is enough.

4. Set long-term goals. There is always a tradeoff between the short term and the long term. Ephesians 2:10 says we are created for good works God prepared beforehand. Financial breathing room is not the prize. Freedom to walk in those works is.

5. Plan for financial margin. The unexpected will occur. Margin lets us meet a neighbor without panic and leave a legacy that reflects the Father’s heart.

Let’s learn Godly financial habits together and grow in our ability to steward God’s resources.

Harvest Valley Worship Center will walk through Ron Blue’s God Owns It All series beginning the first week of October and led by Allan Jordheim. Classes meet Wednesday nights at 6:00 p.m. at 86 Hidden Valley Road in Sandpoint. The series is open to anyone who wants a biblical heart for money and lasting, practical habits. For details, call the church office. Materials are provided, so please RSVP at 208-263-2637 or visit hvwc.com. 

Chris Bassett is the senior pastor at Harvest Valley Worship Center.  You can find out more at hvwc.com.