Stewardship

The Management of Life

 Success

Failure
Discontent Happiness
The only true
security lies in a
simple, childlike
trust and
dependence upon
God.
 Money is a visible
representation of the
actual expenditure of
life itself.

 When he gives a gift of money to

God, he is really giving a portion
of his very life—that portion he
used in making the money.
 In this way a person who may
never have had the opportunity to
go as a missionary can, through
his gifts, send a portion of this life
to some foreign field.
God, through the
prophet Malachi,
called for a reform
among His people.

“Return unto me,

and I will return
unto you.”
[Malachi 3:7]
God pointed to this as the
diseased root to all their
problems, for it was a clear
evidence of the selfishness
in their hearts.

 This selfishness was

infecting every part
of their lives.
There is need for a genuine
reform in the church today.

The last warning message,

which should be going
forward with jet speed, is in
many areas slowed to a walk
because of the selfishness of
God’s people.
CS, p. 52

“God cannot pour out His

spirit when selfishness and
self-indulgence are so
manifest.”
God will be able to pour out His
Spirit without measure and the
gospel can go to every corner
of the earth. The Holy Spirit
will open hearts to receive
divine rays of light.
6T, p. 450

“When all are faithful in giving

back to God His own in tithes
and offerings, the way will be
opened for the world to hear
the message for this time.”
Unselfishness will permit the
church to move forward in
unity, marching as an army
with banners, armed with
God’s Spirit, impelled and
added by divine power. The
world will then witness a force
not seen since apostolic times.
An acceptance of the
owner-manager principle
will be seen in the unselfish
use of time, talent, and
means in carrying the
gospel message.
To really understand the
Owner-Manager relationship,
one must recognize the
difference between an owner
and a manager.
The first sin in heaven was also a violation
of this Owner-manager relationship.
Lucifer, a created being, refused to
recognize his relationship to God.

 Cast out from the courts of

glory, he enticed Eve by a
delusive argument to forget
that she wasn’t an owner.
Jesus said, “For I came down
from heaven, not to do mine
own will, but the will of him
that sent me.” [John 6:38].
“Lord, what wilt thou have
me to do?” [Acts 9:6]

 This is the question of one who is

looking for orders from a superior,
not the words of an owner.
As a manager under God, a
person can enjoy the freedom
of dependence.
 He can be sure that all his plans
are under divine control and
direction.
 He also has the assurance
that the daily needs of
both him and his family
will be supplied.
Placing trust and confidence in
God at all times and under all
circumstances will free a person
from worry over the
uncertainties of life.
The original tests
required of Adam
and the tests today
are similar because
of the points tested.
Adam was tested on
obedience,
recognition of God’s
Ownership, love,
and faith.
Men are being tested today on
these same points.

While no tree of
knowledge of good
and evil is involved,
God has specified
certain areas in
which the same
tests apply.
 Tests Area
1. Sabbath—one- A test of obedience
seventh of time. to God’s commands

2. Tithe—one-tenth of A test of recognition

increase. of God’s ownership

3. Freewill Offerings— A test of love and

time, talent, means. faith

4. Management of A test of the attitude

remainder of trust. and direction of life
 “If man will become channels
through whom Heaven’s
blessing can flow, God will keep
the channels supplied.”

“It was… [God’s] purpose that the

longer man lived the more fully he
should reveal this image—the more
fully reflect the glory of the Creator.”
Education, p. 15
 Partnership with
God—human effort
combined with
divine power.

 Human being
prepares the soil
and plants the seed,
but it is divine
power that causes
the seed to spring
into life.
 CS, pp. 198, 199

“God has made men His almoners,

copartners with Himself in the great work
of advancing His kingdom of the earth; but
they may pursue the course pursued by the
unfaithful servant, and by so dong lose the
most precious privileges ever granted to
men. For thousands of years God has
 CS, pp. 198, 199

worked through human agencies, but at

His will He can drop out the selfish, the
money-loving, and the covetous. He is
not dependent upon our means, and He
will not be restricted by the human
agent. He can carry on His own work
though we act no part in it.”
 God made man His partner in
the plan of salvation to make it
possible for him to develop a
character of selflessness.
“A gift to God cannot be
measured by size, but by
the degree of sacrifice
that it represents.”
 “For they bind heavy
burdens and grievous to
be borne, and lay them
on men’s shoulders.”
[Matt. 23:4]
God is contrasting Heaven’s measure of
a gift with the world’s evaluation.
People are impressed with the
amount, but Heaven weighs the
degree of sacrifice involved.

 Jesus said that the poor

widow had given more than
any of the others because she had
included part of her very living.
 God never asks anyone to give
beyond his ability.
The poor woman
wanted to express this
love, but looking into
her tiny store she
couldn’t find enough
to adequately fulfill the
desire she had in her
heart, so she added a
part of her very living in
order to satisfy this
longing for expression.
A wealthy person could have equaled
her gift—if he had given everything
he had plus his nest meal.

 It is not sin to
possess wealth.
The sin is in
hoarding wealth or
in its selfish use.
 “Every man shall give as he is able,
according to the blessing of the Lord
they God which he hath given thee.”
[Deut. 16:17]

 There is only one instance in the Bible

where equal giving was required, and
that was in the case of and atonement, or
a ransom, for the soul. The amount
specified was to be exactly a half shekel.
“The rich shall not give more, and
the poor shall not give less.”
[Ex. 30: 15]

 In this God clearly taught

that men’s and women’s souls
are of equal value, whether
rich or poor.
Paul emphasized the
principles of equal
sacrifice.

“Let every one of you

lay by him in store, as
God hath prospered
him.” [1Cor. 16: 2]

“It is accepted
according to that a
man hath, and not
according to that he
hath not.”
[2 Cor.8: 12]
In heaven’s balances the size is of
no importance. It is the motive
and the degree of sacrifice that
are the measure of a gift. Man is
unable to judge motive; neither
can he evaluate the degree of
sacrifice that any gift represents.

 Therefore, he must be very

careful in his estimation of any
gift, regardless of its size.
That I May Know Him,
p. 167

“God considers more with

how much love we work, than
the amount we do.”
 Any method used to secure funds that
is a substitute for personal sacrifice is
unacceptable to God.”
- Mel Rees

 A selfish heart will go to any

length or employ any means for
self-protection. The constant search for
substitutes for personal sacrifice is not
an abnormality of the jet age-it was
also common in the age of chariots.
 Patriarchs and Prophets,
p. 629

“The people reserved for themselves the

finest of the flocks, herds, and beasts of
burden, excusing their sin on the ground
that the cattle were reserved to be offered
as sacrifices to the Lord. It was their
purpose, however, to use these (merely as
a substitute ) to save their own cattle.”
 Selected Messages,
p. 413

“Instead of appealing to man’s reason, to

his benevolence, his humanity, his nobler
faculties, the most successful appeal that
can be made is to the appetite. The
gratification of the appetite will induce
men to give means when otherwise they
would do nothing.”