Living as a Faithful Steward (1)

Introduction: pausing before the year is over

The year is drawing to a close. Between school, work, family, and serving in the church, the days rush by at a dizzying speed. And all too often, it is the most important things that come last, when they still make it in at all. This morning, take a few minutes to pause with me over a single question: what does it mean to live as a faithful steward?

Open your Bible to Matthew 25:14-30. This is the text, the well known parable of the talents, that we are going to reflect on. A simple question runs through this whole passage: what does the life of someone who loves God actually look like?

We all know that the first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37-38). We have heard it a thousand times. But loving God is never a mere feeling. It is a love that shows. It shows in our attachment to his Word (Philippians 1:9), in our obedience to his commandments (John 14:15), in our love for God's other children (1 John 5:1). There is one last area where this love is put to the test: the way we manage what God entrusts to us.

Outline of the article

The parable of the talents brings four major principles for living as a faithful steward into focus. In this article, we will concentrate on the first one, the other three will be covered in the following articles.

1. The context: Jesus will return, but we don't know when

2. Two characters and two categories of "servants"

3. The first principle: remembering your place before God

4. What this changes in my everyday life

Discussion

1. The context: Jesus will return, but we don't know when

Before reading the parable, we need to remember where it is set. Jesus tells it on the Mount of Olives, in the days leading up to his crucifixion. By this point, he has already told his disciples several times that he was going to die, rise again, go up into heaven, and then return one day. But he adds something important: no one knows the date of his return, not even he does.

This is the great theme of Matthew 24 and 25. Look at Matthew 24:42-44: "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. [...] So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." No one knows at what hour the thief will strike. In the same way, no one knows at what hour the Son of Man will return. But he will return.

The whole parable of the talents is given to answer this question: while we wait for that day, how should we live? We too are waiting for the return of Christ. The question that concerns us directly is this: what are you doing while you wait?

2. Two characters and two categories of "servants"

Now read Matthew 25:14-30 quietly. Two types of characters appear: a master who goes on a journey and entrusts his property, and servants to whom he gives five, two, and one talent, according to their abilities.

The master is Jesus. The text speaks of a man who goes on a journey. He does not move out for good. He does not settle somewhere else. He leaves and he will come back. Jesus has gone up into heaven, but he is not settled there forever as though he had left us for good. He is on his way toward a glorious return. He is the Lord who has conquered sin and death, and he is coming back soon.

The servants are those who call themselves Christians. They are those who confess belief in Jesus Christ. But the parable teaches something serious: among those who carry that name, there are, in reality, two groups. On one side, the truly faithful servants, who will enter into the joy of their master. On the other, those who give the outward appearance of faith but whose lives reveal that they never truly believed, those the master will call "wicked and lazy" and who will be thrown outside. Scripture warns us more than once: confessing Christ with our lips is not enough if our life contradicts that confession.

3. The first principle: remembering your place before God

Here is the first principle for living as a faithful steward: remembering your place. If you want to manage what the Lord has entrusted to you rightly, you must first remember who you are before him.

The word translated here as "servant" is the Greek doulos. It originally comes from a verb meaning to bind. The doulos is the one bound to his master, a slave in the strict sense. He no longer belongs to himself. He no longer has his own will, his own time, his own possessions, or even his own life. Everything he has belongs to his master.

That is exactly the relationship that exists between Jesus and us. Jesus is the Master. We are his servants. Everything we touch in this life belongs to our Lord. Nothing we call "mine" truly belongs to us. Not our time, not our money, not our abilities, not our body, not even our life.

Do you truly believe that? Do you live each day as someone who belongs to another, or do you live as though you were your own master?

The great men of the faith were not ashamed of this title. Paul introduces himself as "a servant of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:1), and the Greek word is indeed doulos, slave. Peter does the same in 2 Peter 1:1. So does James (James 1:1). So does Jude (Jude 1). All of them knew they no longer belonged to themselves. And because they recognized their place, they were able to give everything for their Master.

If you are saved, you have gone through that same shift: from a slave of sin, you have become a slave of God. Christ bought you at a great price. Paul writes it plainly: "You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Living this way is not sad. It is not a prison. It is the source of true joy. Look at what awaits the faithful servant: "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 22:3-5).

The slave owns nothing of his own, but the slave of the Lord possesses the Lord himself. He will see his face. He will reign with him forever. That is our place. And that is the joy that flows from remaining there.

4. What this changes in my everyday life

Remembering your place is not an abstract idea. It is the concrete starting point of a faithful life. Without this awareness, it is impossible to manage well what God entrusts to us. If you forget that you are a servant, sooner or later you will treat what the Master gave you as though it were your own. You will use your gifts, your time, your money, your family, your influence for your own glory, not for his.

Remembering your place means, instead, starting every day with this simple reality: I do not belong to myself; I belong to Jesus Christ, who bought me with his blood. From there, everything changes. Your schedule becomes a deposit entrusted to you. Your relationships become a deposit entrusted to you. Your body, your wallet, your calling become a deposit entrusted to you. Nothing is small, because nothing belongs to you and everything is offered to the Master.

Key takeaways

• The parable of the talents is given by Jesus just before his death, to teach how to live while waiting for his return.
• The Master is Jesus, who will return on a day known to him alone.
• The servants are those who call themselves disciples of Christ, but not all of them are faithful.
• The first principle of a faithful steward: remembering your place before God. We are his douloi, his slaves bought at a great price.
• This place is not a humiliation, it is the doorway into eternal joy: seeing his face and reigning with him.

Personal application

1. Am I truly living as someone who has been bought at a price, or as someone who still belongs to himself?
2. In which areas of my life (time, money, relationships, projects) am I still operating as though I were the master?
3. Am I actively waiting for the return of Christ, or am I living as though that return will never come?
4. Am I ashamed, like Paul, to call myself "a slave of Jesus Christ"? Why?
5. This week, what concrete decision can I make to honor the fact that I belong to the Lord?

Verses cited

• Matthew 25:14-30 · the parable of the talents
• Matthew 22:37-38 · the great commandment
• Matthew 24:42-44 · keep watch
• Philippians 1:9 · love with knowledge
• John 14:15 · if you love me, keep my commandments
• 1 John 5:1 · loving the one who gave birth
• Philippians 1:1 · servant of Jesus Christ
• 2 Peter 1:1
• James 1:1
• Jude 1
• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 · you were bought at a great price
• Revelation 22:3-5 · they will see his face

FAQ

What does "living as a faithful steward" mean?

Living as a faithful steward means recognizing that everything we possess (time, gifts, property, relationships), belongs to God, and using it for his glory until the return of Christ. The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) draws the framework for it.

Why does Paul introduce himself as a "slave" of Jesus Christ?

Because he had understood that he no longer belonged to himself. Bought by Christ, he lived entirely for him. The Greek word doulos expresses this total belonging to the Master. Recognizing this place before God is the starting point of a faithful life.

How do we prepare for the return of Christ day to day?

By keeping watch, as Jesus says in Matthew 24:42. Concretely: remembering every day that we belong to Christ, managing what he entrusts to us for his glory, loving his Word, obeying his commandments, and loving his children. These are the marks of a servant waiting for his Master.