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