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A3. Being Good Stewards.    [Make a Comment]

We are to be good stewards of the things and matters that are entrusted to us.

This precept is derived from His Word (blessed be He):

Key Scriptures

MAN'S STEWARDSHIP OF GODiS CREATION

Genesis 1:27-30
So God created humankind in his own image; in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. God blessed them: God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and every living creature that crawls on the earth." Then God said, "Here! Throughout the whole earth I am giving you as food every seed-bearing plant and every tree with seed-bearing fruit. And to every wild animal, bird in the air and creature crawling on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I am giving as food every kind of green plant." And that is how it was.

Genesis 2:15-17
ADONAI, God, took the person and put him in the garden of 'Eden to cultivate and care for it. ADONAI, God, gave the person this order: "You may freely eat from every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You are not to eat from it, because on the day that you eat from it, it will become certain that you will die."

ISRAELITES' STEWARDSHIP OF THEIR CROPS

Leviticus 19:9-10
When you harvest the ripe crops produced in your land, don't harvest all the way to corners of your field, and don't gather the ears of grain left by the harvesters. Likewise, don't gather the grapes left on the vine or fallen on the ground after harvest; leave them for the poor and the foreigner; I am ADONAI your God.

PARENTS' STEWARDSHIP OF THEIR CHILDREN

Proverbs 22:6
Train a child in the way he [should] go; and, even when old, he will not swerve from it.

ISRAELITES' STEWARDSHIP OF THEIR MONEY

Mark 12:41-44
Then Yeshua sat down opposite the Temple treasury and watched the crowd as they put money into the offering-boxes. Many rich people put in large sums, but a poor widow came and put in two small coins. He called his talmidim to him and said to them, "Yes! I tell you, this poor widow has put more in the offering-box than all the others making donations. For all of them, out of their wealth, have contributed money they can easily spare; but she, out of her poverty, has given everything she had to live on."

A PARABLE OF GOOD & BAD STEWARDSHIP

Luke 12:40-48
"You too, be ready! For the Son of Man will come when you are not expecting him." Kefa said, "Sir, are you telling this parable for our benefit only or for everyone's?" The Lord replied, "Nu, who is the faithful and sensible manager whose master puts him in charge of the household staff to give them their share of food at the proper time? It will go well with that servant if he is found doing his job when his master comes. Yes, I tell you he will put him in charge of all he owns. But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is taking his time coming,' and starts bullying the men- and women-servants, and eating and drinking, getting drunk, then his master will come on a day when the servant isn't expecting him, at a time he doesn't know in advance; his master will cut him in two and put him with the disloyal. Now the servant who knew what his master wanted but didn't prepare or act according to his will, will be whipped with many lashes; however, the one who did what deserves a beating, but didn't know, will receive few lashes. From him who has been given much, much will be demanded - from someone to whom people entrust much, they ask still more."

A MANAGER'S QUESTIONABLE STEWARDSHIP OF WORLDLY WEALTH AS EVIDENCE OF HIS TRUSTWORTHINESS WITH HEAVENLY WEALTH

Luke 16:1-13
Speaking to the talmidim, Yeshua said: "There was a wealthy man who employed a general manager. Charges were brought to him that his manager was squandering his resources. So he summoned him and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Turn in your accounts, for you can no longer be manager.' 'What am I to do?' said the manager to himself. 'My boss is firing me, I'm not strong enough to dig ditches, and I'm ashamed to go begging. Aha! I know what I'll do - something that will make people welcome me into their homes after I've lost my job here!' So, after making appointments with each of his employer's debtors, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my boss?' Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. 'Take your note back,' he told him. 'Now, quickly! Sit down and write one for four hundred!' To the next he said, 'And you, how much do you owe?' 'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. 'Take your note back and write one for eight hundred.' And the employer of this dishonest manager applauded him for acting so shrewdly! For the worldly have more sekhel than those who have received the light - in dealing with their own kind of people! Now what I say to you is this: use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it gives out, you may be welcomed into the eternal home. Someone who is trustworthy in a small matter is also trustworthy in large ones, and someone who is dishonest in a small matter is also dishonest in large ones. So if you haven't been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who is going to trust you with the real thing? And if you haven't been trustworthy with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what ought to belong to you? No servant can be slave to two masters, for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can't be a slave to both God and money."

SEVERAL SERVANTS' STEWARDSHIP OF THEIR MASTERS' WEALTH

Matthew 25:13-30 (See also, Luke 19:12-26)
So stay alert, because you know neither the day nor the hour. For it will be like a man about to leave home for a while, who entrusted his possessions to his servants. To one he gave five talents [equivalent to a hundred years' wages]; to another, two talents; and to another, one talent - to each according to his ability. Then he left. The one who had received five talents immediately went out, invested it and earned another five. Similarly, the one given two earned another two. But the one given one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time, the master of those servants returned to settle accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the other five and said, 'Sir, you gave me five talents; here, I have made five more.' His master said to him, 'Excellent! You are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with a small amount, so I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and join in your master's happiness!' Also the one who had received two came forward and said, 'Sir, you gave me two talents; here, I have made two more.' His master said to him, 'Excellent! you are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with a small amount, so I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and join in your master's happiness!' Now the one who had received one talent came forward and said, 'I knew you were a hard man. You harvest where you didn't plant and gather where you didn't sow seed. I was afraid, so I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here! Take what belongs to you!' 'You wicked, lazy servant!' said his master, 'So you knew, did you, that I harvest where I haven't planted? and that I gather where I didn't sow seed? Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, so that when I returned, I would at least have gotten back interest with my capital! Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. For everyone who has something will be given more, so that he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away. As for this worthless servant, throw him out in the dark, where people will wail and grind their teeth!'

YESHUA'S STEWARDSHIP OF HIS MANUAL LABORS

Acts 20:34-35
You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided not only for my own needs, but for the needs of my co-workers as well. In everything I have given you an example of how, by working hard like this, you must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Yeshua himself, 'There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.'

MEN'S STEWARDSHIP OF THEIR BODIES

Romans 12:1
I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical "Temple worship" for you.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or don't you know that your body is a temple for the Ruach HaKodesh who lives inside you, whom you received from God? The fact is, you don't belong to yourselves; for you were bought at a price. So use your bodies to glorify God.

DISCIPLES' STEWARDSHIP OF GOD'S SECRET TRUTHS

1 Corinthians 4:1-2
So, you should regard us as the Messiah's servants, as trustees of God's secret truths. Now the one thing that is asked of a trustee is that he be found trustworthy.

A MAN'S STEWARDSHIP OF HIS PLANTABLE SEEDS

2 Corinthians 9:6
Here's the point: he who plants sparingly also harvests sparingly.

SHA'UL'S STEWARDSHIP OF THE WORK THAT GOD GAVE HIM

Ephesians 3:1-2
It is a consequence of this that I, Sha'ul, am a prisoner of the Messiah Yeshua on behalf of you Gentiles. I assume that you have heard of the work God in his grace has given me to do for your benefit ...

A MAN'S STEWARDSHIP OF HIS TIME

Ephesians 5:15-16
Therefore, pay careful attention to how you conduct your life - live wisely, not unwisely. Use your time well, for these are evil days.

AN ELDER'S STEWARDSHIP OF GOD'S AFFAIRS

Titus 1:7
For an overseer, as someone entrusted with God's affairs, must be blameless - he must not be self-willed or quick-tempered, he must not drink excessively, get into fights or be greedy for dishonest gain.

MEN'S STEWARDSHIP OF GOD'S WORK

1 Timothy 1:3-5
As I counseled you when I was leaving for Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus, so that you may order certain people who are teaching a different doctrine to stop. Have them stop devoting their attention to myths and never-ending genealogies; these people to speculating instead of doing God's work, which requires trust. The purpose of this order is to promote love from a clean heart, from a good conscience and from sincere trust.

A MAN'S STEWARDSHIP OF HIS FAMILY'S RESOURCES

1 Timothy 5:8
Moreover, anyone who does not provide for his own people, especially for his family, has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

A MAN'S STEWARDSHIP OF GOD'S TRUTH

Deuteronomy 29:28(29)
Things which are hidden belong to ADONAI our God. But the things that have been revealed belong to us and our children forever, so that we can observe all the words of this Torah.

2 Timothy 2:15
Do all you can to present yourself to God as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth.

MEN'S STEWARDSHIP OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS

1 Peter 4:10
As each one has received some spiritual gift, he should use it to serve others, like good managers of God's many-sided grace

Commentary

A steward is someone who cares for things, and "stewardship" is the conducting, overseeing, or managing of things. The "things" may be tangible property, or intangible items such as time, knowledge, skill, etc. The diverse Scriptures presented are representative of others and make a strong case for God wanting us to be good stewards of the things He has entrusted to us. They may belong to others, to God, or even to ourselves, but whether big or small, God holds us accountable for those with which we have been entrusted.

Commentary by Daniel C. Juster

Good stewardship is implied by the very idea of being created in the Image of God. We are vice regents, and are called to govern wisely as God's representative rulers.

Classical Commentators

This Mitzvah is not addressed by any of the classical commentators.

NCLA: JMm JFm KMm KFm GMm GFm

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