The Gospel and Stewardship

“And he said to them, ‘When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread.”’” - Luke 11:2–3 (ESV)

Our stewardship and generosity begin with God. Before we consider what we give, we look to the God of the gospel and remember all he has given to us.

That’s how Jesus teaches us to pray. We start by addressing God as “Father.” Before the “what” of our prayer, we begin with the “who.” We come to our Father who loves us. He couldn’t care more for us or be more generous to us if he tried. Before demands, we delight.

So it’s no surprise that Jesus tells us to look to our Father to provide for our everyday needs. We just ask him to “give us each day our daily bread.” We call on God to provide our basic sustenance. And God, our Father, delights to give us what we need because he loves us. 

In fact, God has no limit to the lengths he will go to provide for his children, even when it costs his own life. Ultimately, God gave his Son, Jesus Christ, to be our daily bread—to provide for our every need in life and death. That’s why Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), and why we eat the bread of the Lord’s Supper to remember God’s provision for us in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

But the story doesn’t end there. God continues to provide for our physical needs. He gives “bread for food” to his family in lots of ways and often, he uses our generosity to do it (2 Corinthians 9:10–11). Sometimes, God provides for you through one of your Christian siblings. Other times, God provides for others through your generosity. 

Someone else’s daily bread may be in your pantry. You may be God’s plan to provide for the people around you.

As we grow as stewards, we begin by remembering our Father who loves us and has given us everything we need in his Son. Then, we ask, “How does God want to use me to provide for the needs of his family?”