Stewarding My Whole Life

July 26th 2026

Series: A Generous Life

Sermon Title: Stewarding My Whole Life

Topic: Stewardship is about more than money.  It includes every area of our life: time, talent, treasures, opportunities, gifts, etc. How do live with eternity in mind?

Key Passages: Various

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message, we will learn what it means to go “all in” with our faith.  Many Christians compartmentalize their faith and disallow Jesus to have access in every area of life.  We need to learn how to steward our lives with eternity in mind.  To live generously means to steward our entire life wisely.

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***Yellow means what is yellow will be on the screens and in the handout.

Sermon:

Hello, Family Church!

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Welcome to Family Church!

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        And if this is your first time joining us, thank you for being our guest today!

        I hope you have had a great experience so far, and that this service has already been a blessing and encouragement to you!

PAUSE

Today, we are going to finish a 4-part teaching series about living a generous life.

        We have been learning what a truly blessed life looks like.

        How followers of Jesus are called to steward God’s resources and be generous in every area of their life!

We started this journey in week 1…

We answered the question: “What does it mean to live generously?”

We talked about the heart of generosity and how our posture of giving matters.

Then, we spent week 2 learning about the purpose of tithing.

We answered the question: “Why should I tithe faithfully?”

        And learned that tithing is a matter of trust, obedience, and priority.

Last week, we talked about Spirit-led giving and looked at what free-will offerings are.

Where tithing is about TRUSTING God…

Offerings demonstrate our deepening LOVE for GOD and OTHERS.

We answered the question: “What is Spirit-led giving?”

And TODAY, we’re going to finish this series by discussing stewardship.

Today is NOT just money or giving…

Today IS about how do we steward our resources, abilities, and opportunities to best honor God.

We’ll answer the question: “How do I steward my life for eternity?”

PAUSE

And let me remind us…

This series is not about getting money from you.

We’re not guilting you. We’re not pressuring you. We’re not manipulating you.

We’re simply trying to provide biblical guidance for living a generous life.

The heart behind all of it is this:

  That our entire life would be centered on Jesus.     

        (Repeat)

Not a compartmentalized life.

Not picking the areas we’re comfortable letting Jesus into.

Not keeping control of certain parts of our life.

We are calling you to go all in with Jesus.

And yes, that includes your money…

I know many of you wish it did not.,

I know many of you act like it does not.

But generosity is about far more than just money.

It’s about keeping eternity in view.

Remembering this life is 120 years if we are lucky.

And eternity is trillions of years…

This life is a flash in the perspective of eternity.

And how we live here the Bible is very clear…

How we live here will impact our eternity.

And the reward we get in eternity.

LONG PAUSE

God is calling us to go all in with our faith.

Let me paint a picture in your mind.

Imagine your daughter is dating…

Things are getting serious…

Then one day this young man asks you to marry your daughter…

Then preparing for their wedding day begins.

        Then imagine one day that young man says to your daughter…

        “You know…I cannot wait to get married.

        I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

        I cannot wait to share PART of my life with you.

        I cannot wait to open up to you in the areas I want to.

But just know…

There will be areas of my life that are OFF LIMITS for you.

Areas of my life that you might want to change me but I will NOT.

How many parents here would PUMP THE BREAKS on the marriage?

Nobody’s telling their daughter to marry that kind of person!

That’s not how commitment works.

Marriage is all in!

Not halfway.

Not partially commitment.

PAUSE

So, why do we treat our faith in Jesus any differently?

Why do we push Him out of certain areas? Why do we limit His access?

Why do we compartmentalize what was never meant to be divided?

Think about it:

Jesus went all in for me.

I need to go all in for Him.

        And that is what we are going to talk about today.

PAUSE

If you have your bible, and I hope you do…

        Turn to John 10 with me.

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John 10:7-14

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.

9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Some translations say instead of a full life.

They say an abundant life.

A generous life.

A blessed life.

Jesus goes on to say      

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep.

So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away.

Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.

13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—

15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

We will stop reading there…

If you’re taking notes, write this down:

Living a generous life requires faithful stewardship of every area of my life.

        (Repeat)

God wants us to live a generous life.

        And stewarding our lives wisely—in every area—helps us to step into that kind of mentality.

PAUSE

Now let me define that word you wrote down.

What is stewardship?

According to Webster’s Dictionary—look in your notes:

Stewardship is the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to your care.

        (Repeat)

In other words,

Stewardship is recognizing that what you have isn’t ultimately yours.

What you have has been entrusted to you by someone else.

Now if you are a Christian…

That other person would be God.

And God wants you to manage what He gives you accordin to His ways…

Not according to YOUR ways.

Or cultures ways.

God’s ways.

Stewardship includes everything.

Every moment of life God gives you—steward it. Every opportunity to make a difference—steward it. Every resource He’s placed in your hands—steward it. Every relationship—steward it.

Every dollar—steward it. Every spiritual gift—steward it.

Every child—steward it. Every natural ability—steward it.

Every friend—steward it.

Everything you and I have is a gift from God…

And God is calling us to steward our lives wisely.

PAUSE

Stewardship is not just about money management.

        It’s about managing your ENTIRE life God’s way!

        It’s about surrender.

        It’s about living a life of worship unto God!

PAUSE

So… with the time we have today, I want us to look at a few specific areas God is inviting us to steward.

I want to start by laying a foundation and looking at Colossians 3.

I want us to read this entire passage.

And as we do, pay attention to how it builds…how it unfolds…

And notice how it culminates in a clear call to steward our lives unto God.

Colossians 3:1- 17

Verse 1…

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:

sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.

8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these:

anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Stop there.

Look at verse 17 again, “whatever you do… whether in word or deed, do it all in the Name of Jesus”.

Notice the clarity God gives here.

Stewardship involves both what we say and what we do.

Word and Deed.

It’s not saying one thing and living another—that’s hypocrisy.

True stewardship is when our words and our actions are aligned…and both honor God.

When someone truly loves God, it shows in how they speak…and how they live.

You begin to manage life God’s way.

That’s what this passage is pointing us toward.

PAUSE

So, what are some areas of life we can steward wisely?

I want to give you 5 key areas God wants us to steward.

Let’s start with Time.

Write this down:

Am I investing my time in what matters to God—or just what matters to me?

        (Repeat)

Ephesians 5:15-16 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.          

It says…

Be careful…

Be mindful…

Be intentional…

Be disciplined…

In how we use the time God has given us.

They say that “time is the most valuable resource we have”.

We don’t get it back.

        Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

So, how are you doing at stewarding the time God has given?

The average American is going to live to around 80 years.

        For some, that might seem like an eternity away.

        For others, you are already on borrowed time.

Regardless, what are you doing TODAY to maximize the time you have?

PAUSE

Another area God wants us to be mindful of is our gifts and abilities.

Write this down:

Am I using my gifts and abilities for what matters to God—or just what benefits me?

(Repeat)

Look at

1 Peter 4:10: 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

That word steward shows up at least 10 times in the New Testament.

In this passage, it’s about managing and utilizing…

Our talents,

Our abilities,

and the gifts God has entrusted.

It’s about ministry.

Ministering God’s grace to others through the faithful use of your gifts and abilities.

I don’t want to spend too much time here, since we just came out of a series on the various gifts the Holy Spirit gives us…

But think about this…

How has God gifted you?

Some of you are great at organizing and managing systems. Some of you are great at sports. Some of you connect with people naturally. Some of you are gifts to do things behind the scenes. Some of you have a gift for sales. Some of you think deeply and strategically.

Every one of us has abilities God has wired into us.

Have you ever pondered why would God give you those gifts if He didn’t have a purpose for them?

Your life is not random—it’s a gift from God, with intention and design.

And when you steward your gifts and abilities well, you begin to step into God’s purpose for your life.

How are you doing at stewarding your abilities and gifts for God?

PAUSE

Here’s a third area God wants us to steward well.

It’s our resources.

Write this down:

Am I investing my resources in what matters to God—or just what I want?

(Repeat)

Here again, I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this point…because the last 2 messages in this teaching series have been mostly about this.

But be honest with yourself—how are you doing at managing the money and the stuff God has allowed you to have?

Jesus taught a powerful principle about this in Luke 16:

Luke 16:10-11 10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,

and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

God is clear that faithfulness in our finances matters.

        Jesus wants us to honor Him with money and live the blessed life!

PAUSE

The fourth area I want to mention is our relationships.

Write this down:

Am I investing in relationships that matter to God—or just the ones that are easy for me?  

(Repeat)

Relationships matter.

Jesus places human relationships right beneath our relationship with God.

3 of the Gospel writers record Him saying:

“Love God with everything you have…

And love your neighbor as yourself.”

From God’s perspective, loving people is essential to living a Godly life.

And other people are NOT just the people you like.

It’s easy to love people who are likable… but what about those who aren’t?

God calls us to bless those who curse us. Jesus calls us to love our enemies.

Which means stewarding relationships includes:

managing your attitude,

handling your emotions,

and

controlling your response…

Even toward difficult people.

And on the flip side—when it comes to friends and fellow believers…

Scripture calls us to:

Serve one another. Encourage one another. Show hospitality. Be kind.

Be patient. Build each other up.

Over and over, we see the value God places on relationships… and how we are to steward them.

How are you stewarding your relationships for God?

PAUSE

The fifth area I want to talk about is stewarding your body… (saved the best for last 😉)

Write this down:

Am I caring for my body in a way that honors God—or just serving my own desires?

        (Repeat)

Romans 12:1,“Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice… this is your true and proper worship.”

1 Corinthians 6:18–20, “Your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit… you are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”

We live in a broken world—a culture that often misleads us.

People say, “It’s my body.” But Scripture says… it’s not.

Your body belongs to God.

If everything we have comes from Him, then that includes our body…

And what we do with it.

We need to learn to say ‘no’ to what is sinful so we can say ‘yes’ to what is godly.

God isn’t against enjoyment.

God calls us to enjoy things within the boundaries He designed.

So, let’s be honest…

How are you stewarding your body?

Are your choices honoring God? Or drifting outside His design?

That includes things like your sexual purity.

Includes how you treat your health.

Your weight.

Your workout routine.

Are you caring for your body or slowly harming it.

Are you being a fatty?

What you eat and drink does matter.

        Not only can it affect your health while on earth.

The things we consume can impact your spiritual life and destroy your relationships.

So again…

How are you doing at stewarding your body?

LONG PAUSE

Go back to where we started.

        Are you “all in” for Jesus?

        A generous life is not found outside of Jesus.

        It’s found when we fully surrender to Him and live our lives in alignment to His plan.

Life Application: Am I all in for Jesus? What area of my life am I not stewarding wisely and unto God? As a result of today’s message, “I will… ________________.”