Daily Devotional: Generosity & Stewardship: It Was Never Yours to Begin With

This is an opinion column.

OPEN HANDS

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
Psalm 24:1

A PERSONAL NOTE:

By the time you read this, I may be in surgery, or I may still be waiting. After several reschedules, I have learned not to hold too tightly to the timeline. What I can tell you is that whatever this morning looks like, I am at peace.

Not because everything is under control. But because I have released control to the One who actually has it.

That is exactly what today’s devotional is about. I did not plan it that way. God did. And that is the most fitting thing I can tell you as we begin this week together: everything I have, everything I am, and everything that happens today belongs to Him. It was never mine to begin with. And I would not have it any other way.

Thank you for every prayer. Whatever this morning holds, I am in His hands. And that is enough.

REFLECTION

There is a quiet assumption most of us carry that shapes everything about how we handle money, time, and resources without us ever fully examining it.

• What I earn is mine.
• What I save is mine.
• What I own is mine.
• And I get to decide what to do with what is mine.

It feels obvious. It feels like common sense. But Psalm 24 pulls the rug out from under the whole framework in the very first line. The earth is the Lord’s. Everything in it. All who live in it. Not some of it. Not the portion we have chosen to dedicate to Him. Everything. Which means the paycheck, the savings account, the house, the car, the time, the talent, the opportunity, all of it was His before it came to us and remains His while it is in our hands.

That is not a discouraging truth. It is a liberating one. If everything belongs to God, then we are not owners. We are stewards. And a steward carries a completely different kind of responsibility than an owner. An owner has to protect what is theirs. A steward simply has to manage faithfully what belongs to someone else and return it well. The anxiety of ownership gives way to the freedom of faithful management.

Think about what it feels like to carry something that does not belong to you. There is a lightness to it. You handle it carefully, yes, but you do not lie awake worrying about it the way you would if it were yours. Because ultimately, if something happens to it, it goes back to the One who owns it. That is the posture God is inviting us into with everything He has placed in our hands. Hold it carefully. Manage it faithfully. But do not carry the weight of ownership, because that weight was never yours to bear.

This week we explore what it means to live as stewards rather than owners. To hold what we have been given with open hands, generous and grateful, trusting that the One who owns it all is also the One who supplies it all. We begin with the most foundational truth: it was never ours to begin with. And everything changes when we really believe that.

What would shift in the way you handle your money, time, or resources if you genuinely believed you were a steward rather than an owner, and what is the area where that shift would be most challenging for you?

PRAYER

Lord, everything we have is Yours. We know that in our heads but we do not always live it in our hands. Today we acknowledge it honestly: we are stewards, not owners. The paycheck, the savings, the time, the gifts, the opportunities, all of it came from You and belongs to You. And today, in a very personal way, we also give You our plans, our timelines, and our need to control what only You can hold. Teach us to hold everything the way a steward holds what has been entrusted to them, carefully, faithfully, and with open hands. You are the owner of it all. We trust You with every bit of it. Amen.