We believe that giving can be done in many different ways. First Baptist seeks to help people understand what “gifts” God has given them and how they might be used to glorify Jesus. Though in our Western world giving is linked often to giving financially it also is about time, talents and abilities. Whatever way God asks us to give he wants us to be good stewards.
Stewardship in the Bible means being faithful managers of all that God has given to us. Jesus tells his disciples in the book of Luke, “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” (Luke 16:10). Throughout the Bible, there are several clear principles about what it means to be a good steward. First, being good stewards of our resources means that we recognize that everything belongs to God. He is the one who gives us the ability to earn a living (Deut 8:17-18). Second, being good stewards means exercising self-control and living within our means (Prov. 13:11). Thirdly, being good stewards means giving sacrificially to the Lord’s work. Jesus praised the widow who put her last two copper coins into the offering (Luke 21:4). Fourth, good stewardship means giving from the heart, not out of obligation (2 Cor.9:7).