There’s a scene in Finding Nemo of a flock of seagulls incessantly chanting, “Mine, mine, mine,” over and over. They are depicted as greedy birds obsessed with claiming their fish food. When they see a fish, they call out “mine” as if they have ownership over the fish that popped out of the water.
Similarly, how often do we hear young children proclaim, “That’s mine,” as if they have some ownership over that toy or cupcake? We know full well that they own nothing.
But how often do we adults also use the word “my” and “mine” when it comes to ownership over a certain thing? Those are “my kids.” That’s “my house,” “my money,” “my church.”
However, if we’re honest, we ultimately own nothing in this life because God owns everything.
God Owns Everything
At the founding of Free University in Amsterdam, Abraham Kuyper famously said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’” Unlike those birds in Finding Nemo — and unlike us — He is right to do so!
John 1:3 says, “All things were made through him [the Word], and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Jesus made everything. Revelation 4:11 states, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” God made everything, which means He owns everything.
“The earth is the Lord’s,” David proclaims, “and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers” (Ps. 24:1–2).
“All the earth is mine,” says the Lord (Ex. 19:5b), and again He declares, “Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine” (Job 41:11). “Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it” (Deut. 10:14).
Everything belongs to the Lord! The trees and birds and bees and mountains and oceans and food and stores and houses and cars and clouds … everything!
We Own Nothing
If God owns everything, then we ultimately own nothing.
Life is but a vapor (James 4:14). We were formed from dust (Gen. 2:7). We will simply return to being dust (Eccl. 3:20). We are here today; we are gone tomorrow, just like the grass of the field (Matt. 6:30). All of the knowledge, relationships, wealth, and property we accumulate over a lifetime — poof, it will all be gone.
Anything in your “possession” now will almost assuredly not be in your possession 100 years from now and definitely 200 years from now. Most everything you see or “own” will be but dust in a landfill soon enough.
From a materialistic standpoint, whatever I claim as “mine” in this life will soon be trash or in someone else’s hands.
Stewards, Not Owners
But if God owns everything and we own nothing, does that mean we are free of any responsibility for what is currently in our possession?
No, of course not. We are to be good stewards of all that we’ve been given. But why? And what does it even mean to be a good steward? Let’s consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:14–30 when He tells His disciples the Parable of the Talents.
In this story, there are three servants who must steward their master’s property. A steward is someone appointed to look after, manage, or be responsible for something that belongs to someone else. In the parable, their wealthy master entrusts each of these stewards with a certain number of talents. A talent would’ve been about 15-20 years’ worth of wages. This was a huge amount of money that they were given.
From the creation of mankind to now, each individual — just like these three stewards — has been entrusted with resources. Everything we have comes from God. It all belongs to Him, and we are responsible for stewarding and honoring His resources in such a way that they increase in value.
This part may feel confusing to us. We might be tempted to figure out exactly how we are to double our money. We may even consider that it doesn’t seem like the servants gave any away but rather simply made a significant profit. But that’s not the point of the parable.
The point is that we will be accountable to the Lord for the use of His resources. Not ours. His. We are stewards, not owners, of what belongs to the Lord.
How Do We Become Good and Faithful Stewards?
When the master returns in the parable of the talents, we hear him give praise to two of the three servants for how they had stewarded what they were given. “Well done, good and faithful servant,” he tells them (Matt. 25:21, 23). Whereas, he calls the third servant “wicked and slothful” for doing nothing with what he was given.
How can we find ourselves in a place to be commended by the Lord for our good and faithful stewardship like the first two servants? There’s not a step-by-step guide to follow, but there are general principles that can guide us, along with the Holy Spirit, as we aim to steward our finances and resources well.
- Know What You Have. To be a good steward, specifically of your money, you first must know exactly what you’ve been given. If we spend and give money frivolously, without ever taking account of what we have, we could end up in unwise debt or financial struggles. An agrarian society often measures wealth through the possession of animals. Proverbs 27:23–24 challenges the reader to know what he has: “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?” If we know what we have, we are on our way to being good stewards of what the Lord has given us.
- Keep a Budget. A very practical way to keep an account of what you are stewarding is by having, and keeping to, a budget. A detailed budget allows you to know exactly how you’re stewarding what you’ve been given. What are some principles to keep in mind when making a budget? First Timothy 6:10a tell us that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” Paul seems to imply that craving money too much has led people away from the faith (1 Tim. 6:10b). Therefore, we want to fight against loving and idolizing money. To help us with this, there is a simple mantra that we use in our family that we’ve heard from far wiser people than ourselves: give, save, live.
– We Give
- Giving reminds us that nothing we “have” is ours. We want to be generous to others as the Bible encourages over and over (Prov. 3:9, 14:21; Luke 6:30; 2 Cor. 8–9). We want to be generous to others as Christ has been generous to us.
– We Save
- Saving helps us be prepared for the rainy day that is surely coming. It helps keep us away from future debt, which we are extremely wary of (Prov. 22:7). And it helps us provide for future generations (Prov. 13:22).
- Many who are reading this story own a car. You know what is guaranteed? That car will need oil changes, tire rotations, new tires, and plenty of other work that, unless you yourself are a mechanic, you will have to pay someone else to do. Human-made things always break down — we shouldn’t be surprised when we have to pay to fix those things.
– We Live
- We prioritize giving and saving, and we live on the rest. We fit our lifestyle into what is left. It is not too much or too little — it’s what we have been given. We make it work.
- Again, this is where having, and keeping to, a budget can be a very practical tool that helps us to know and see how we are using and spending money.
Give, save, live. The order of this little motto matters, especially where our heart is concerned. Giving is our first step because it leads us away from prioritizing #2 (save) where we might be too tight-fisted or stingy, always saving for the “what ifs.” It also leads us away from prioritizing #3 (live) where we might be tempted toward being too materialistic or living beyond our means.
Ultimately, we trust that we have the right amount provided by the Lord for us to steward. We want to show gratitude for what has been provided and entrusted to our care. We live with open hands, knowing that we don’t own anything. It all belongs to the Lord. We pursue generosity and use wisdom in our stewardship as we aim to be “good and faithful servants” of all that our Master has graciously given us.
— Aaron Markham is one of the pastors at Ridgewood Church, Greer, S.C. and his wife, Casey Markham, is a stay-at-home mom with three children and twins on the way. She also enjoys coordinating women’s ministry at Ridgewood Church.