“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:2)

Last week, I shared how the Lord gently changed my perspective with one simple whisper: “I’ve given you a gift.” In that moment, I realized the season I was living wasn’t simply another responsibility to manage it was a gift entrusted to me. But recognizing a gift is only the beginning. The next question becomes: “How will I care for what God has placed in my hands?”  That is the heart of stewardship.

Stewardship is often associated with money, possessions, or talents, but Scripture paints a much larger picture. A steward is someone entrusted with something that ultimately belongs to someone else.

Everything we have has first been placed into our hands by God. Our time. Our families. Our friendships. Our marriages. Our ministries. Our opportunities. Even the seasons we find ourselves walking through. None of these belong to us permanently. Each has been entrusted to us for a time. That realization changes everything. Instead of asking, “How quickly can I get through this season?” we begin asking, “Father, how can I be faithful while I’m here?”

Jesus modeled stewardship perfectly. Every person He encountered was treated with value. He stopped for blind Bartimaeus. He welcomed the little children. He noticed the woman who touched the hem of His garment. He sat at tables with people others ignored. He washed His disciples’ feet. He wasn’t rushing to finish a task list. He was faithfully loving the people the Father placed before Him.

What if stewardship looks more like that than we realize? Perhaps stewardship is less about accomplishing more and more about loving well.

As I’ve reflected on my own life, I’ve realized that some of God’s greatest gifts have required the greatest sacrifice. Caring for my mother. Walking through difficult relationships. Serving in ministry. Each season has stretched me in ways I never expected.

Years ago, I prayed a simple prayer: “Lord, teach me to love like You love.” Looking back, I smile as I remember that prayer. Not because I regret praying it. But because I had no idea how He would answer it. He didn’t hand me a definition of love. He entrusted people to me. Some relationships have brought incredible joy. Others have brought deep heartache. Some have been easy. Others have required forgiveness, patience, perseverance, and grace. Yet in every one of them, God has been faithfully answering my prayer. The greatest gift wasn’t always that my circumstances changed. The greatest gift was that Christ was changing me.

Isn’t that what stewardship ultimately produces? Not simply faithful servants but people who look a little more like Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote that he labored until “Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). That has become a beautiful reminder to me that every season has a purpose beyond what we can immediately see.

Perhaps the greatest gift of a season is not simply what we receive from it but who we become because of it. Every difficult conversation. Every act of forgiveness. Every interrupted plan. Every ordinary day. Every quiet act of service. Every unseen sacrifice. Each one becomes another opportunity to reflect Christ a little more clearly.

One of the prayers that has remained in my heart for years is this: “May Christ be seen more clearly in me tomorrow than He was yesterday.”

As I look back now, I realize that God has been answering that prayer one season at a time. Not always by changing my circumstances. Often by changing me. 

Perhaps today the Lord has already placed a gift into your hands. Maybe it’s a child who still wants your attention. An aging parent who needs your care. A spouse who needs encouragement. A friendship that needs nurturing. A ministry opportunity. A season of waiting. Or perhaps even a difficult relationship through which God is quietly teaching you to love more deeply. Whatever the season may be, remember this: You are not simply passing through it. You are stewarding it.

And every season is another invitation to become a little more like Christ than you were yesterday. May we be found faithful with every gift our Father entrusts to us, until the day we place each one back into His loving hands.