Money can provide comfort, create opportunities, help us care for the people we love, but it cannot carry the weight of our hope.
That’s the invitation at the heart of biblical stewardship: to stop asking money to give us what only Jesus can give. To recognize God as the owner of everything. And to learn how to care for what He has entrusted to us.
Not with guilt or fear but with freedom.
WHAT’S THE ELEPHANT IN YOUR LIFE?
Consider a fictional parable. A young man traveling in Kenya finds an elephant with a thorn embedded in its foot. He carefully removes it. The elephant stares at him, trumpets, and walks away.
The encounter changes his life. He becomes devoted to elephants, building his purpose and identity around them.
Twenty years later, an elephant at a zoo stomps its foot and trumpets. Convinced it’s the animal he once helped, the man enters the enclosure. But the elephant kills him.
The point isn’t about elephants. It’s about misplaced trust.
Something can look beautiful and powerful without being able to sustain your life. Something can become central to your identity without deserving your devotion.
For many of us, money is that elephant. Not because money is bad, but because of what it seems to promise: safety, comfort, control.
What are you trusting to make you secure?
GOD OWNS. WE CARE FOR WHAT HE GIVES.
The “Not My Own” series begins with a question: Is God the owner of everything, or am I living as though I am?
Psalm 24:1 gives us the foundation: “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.”
Our bodies. Our skills. Our time. Our money.
Everything is from God for us to use for His glory.
A steward is someone who cares for what belongs to another. That changes the question we bring to our finances. Instead of only asking, “What do I want to do with my money?” we ask, “God, how do You want me to use what You’ve given me?”
Stewardship doesn’t remove responsibility. It gives responsibility a different foundation. We still work, plan, save, and spend. But we do those things in relationship with the One who owns it all.
MONEY IS A TOOL, NOT A MASTER
We don’t need to feel guilty for having money. It is a gift and a tool that can meet needs and help us love others.
The danger begins when we love the gift more than the Giver.
First Timothy 6:10 does not call money the root of all evil. It says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. The issue is our hearts.
Jesus makes the choice clear in Matthew 6:24: we cannot serve both God and money.
We can serve Jesus and use money. Or we can serve money and let it use us.
This reaches beyond expensive purchases. A retirement account can become a source of misplaced trust, too. Saving is wise. But constantly checking investments for reassurance can reveal that we’re asking a balance to become our refuge.
Even generous people need Jesus to keep forming their hearts.
BIGGER BARNS DON’T MAKE A FULLER LIFE
In Luke 12:13–34, someone asks Jesus to settle an inheritance dispute. Jesus responds with a warning: guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much we own.
Greed can be difficult to recognize because it often sounds reasonable. “I need more.” “I deserve this.” “Once I have enough, I’ll give.”
Jesus tells the story of a wealthy farmer whose land produces an abundant harvest. His solution is to build bigger barns, store everything, and enjoy himself. But that night, his life ends.
His wealth wasn’t the central problem. He had stored up earthly treasure without becoming rich in his relationship with God.
That’s the warning for us. We can build a financial future while neglecting the relationship that gives life meaning.
More possessions cannot replace knowing the Father.
TRUST THE FATHER. SEEK HIS KINGDOM.
Jesus moves from greed to worry because both can grow from the belief that everything depends on us.
He points to ravens and wildflowers. God feeds the birds. God clothes the flowers. How much more does He care for His children?
This is not an invitation to stop working or planning. It’s an invitation to stop treating ourselves as our only source of provision.
Jesus calls us to seek God’s kingdom above all else. He promises what we need, not everything we want.
When worry rises, we can bring it honestly to Him. We don’t have to pretend we’re fearless. We can keep learning to trust our good Father.
And that trust makes room for generosity.
OUR MONEY REVEALS OUR TREASURE
Jesus says that where our treasure is, our hearts will be also.
Look at where money flows easily. We may buy golf clubs without hesitation but spend weeks deciding whether to help someone. We may save automatically but treat every opportunity to give as an interruption.
Money reveals what we treasure.
Some signs that we’re thinking like owners rather than stewards include:
- Buying things we don’t need.
- Spending first and leaving giving or saving for later.
- Living with a persistent fear of not having enough.
- Working endlessly for control, or avoiding work through entitlement.
- Always postponing generosity until we have more.
These aren’t reasons to shame ourselves. They’re invitations to let Jesus reshape us.
When income increases, what if we raise our standard of giving rather than only our standard of living?
SIX PRACTICES OF A FAITHFUL STEWARD
The teaching offers six mentalities for putting open-handed living into practice:
- Be a faithful steward. Begin with the conviction that God owns it all.
- Be a diligent earner. Work hard as a way of honoring Him.
- Be a wise spender. Make intentional choices. Ask whether a purchase is needed.
- Be a generous giver. Make generosity a priority, not an afterthought.
- Be a wise saver. Prepare responsibly without making savings your source of hope.
- Be a cautious debtor. Consider carefully whether additional debt is necessary.
One practical pattern shared is to give ten percent, save ten percent, and live on the rest. The teaching encourages ten percent as a starting point for giving, with room to grow.
The goal is not simply a percentage. It’s a heart that recognizes where everything came from.
GENEROSITY BECOMES A WAY OF LIFE
Matt and Loretta, a couple near Detroit with three children, describe learning to see everything they have as a resource for blessing others.
After reading The Treasure Principle, Matt took a construction job and, for a season, gave away ninety percent of his earnings. Loretta describes feeling led to contribute $1,000 toward a car for someone who needed transportation, even while paying off her own car.
During their marriage, they report giving an average of about twenty-six percent of their income. Their giving supports their church, global gospel work, and people whose needs they encounter.
They also welcomed someone recovering from a heart attack into their home.
That matters. Generosity isn’t only a transfer of money. It can mean making room in our homes and daily lives.
The invitation isn’t to copy their numbers. It’s to ask the same question: “Lord, how do You want us to use what is Yours?”
OPEN YOUR HANDS. TAKE YOUR NEXT STEP.
Identify your elephant. Name what receives your money most easily. Talk with your spouse or a trusted friend about one concrete generosity step.
Then open your hands and pray:
“Jesus, this was never mine. My body, my skills, my time, my money—all of it belongs to You. I release my grip. Teach me to care for what You’ve entrusted to me in a way that honors You.”
You were made for more than holding tightly to things that cannot hold you.
More trust in the Father. More love for others. More freedom to follow Jesus.