- Trustworthy Stewardship Key to Managing God's Money
- Stewards Carry Out Authentic Financial Planning
- The GAS Principle - 3 Key Trustworthy Truths
Trustworthy Stewardship
Trustworthy stewardship is vital for everyone who handles another person's property in any form. Its focus is money, time, talent, other resources, and the environment. Authentic Financial Planning is central to trustworthy stewardship because it provides a formal path to set and monitor goals.
Stewardship is not a Christian term. Good stewardship controls people’s property for them. But it failed during the boom 1990s to late 2000s and the Great Recession resulted. Greed and negligence became rampant. Wall Street and financial sector folks abused people’s trust; they lied, stole, cheated. Consumers, too, used poor stewardship. They assumed too much consumer loans and bought homes they could not afford.
Since the Great Recession, firms see the need for proper stewardship. And several authors have written on this topic. They insist financial services firms treat clients right. Clients deserved proper treatment before this problem. But, it’s never too late to start. John Taft et al in their book, Stewardship: Lessons Learned from the Lost Culture of Wall Street Stewardship (John Wiley & Sons, 2012) defined stewardship as serving others. They argue that financial services companies must do right for their customers. Later, in 2014, Joon Yun, M.D., writing in Forbes.com defined stewardship as the responsibility to shepherd and safeguard the interests of others.
The need for active stewardship in business is more obvious daily; it must permeate products and activities. Leaders must leave resources at least the same or better than when they met and used them.
Trustworthy Stewardship Key to Managing God's Money
We can’t manage money. People spend, money doesn’t move by itself. Money is the means or vehicle to get stuff. The truth is money handling is lifestyle management. Here is a key question? Does your spending reflect your goals and values? Trustworthy stewardship needs a clear appreciation of spending habits and the effects of attitude and behavior on consequences (A+B=C).
Are You A Steward
Who is a steward? A steward is someone who gets responsibility and authority from an owner to manage the owner’s property in the owner’s best interest. One must account to the owner often for their performance compared to the owner’s standards. Understand you must account for using resources is key. Stewards must accept their roles and count the cost, understnd likely consequences, before spending.
Trustworthy Stewardship Underpins The GAS Principle
The GAS Principle, three key trustworthy money truths, is the foundation for everything we do at Managing God's Money. It's the essence of our mission as we apply trustworthy stewardship of God's resources. Let’s review the GAS Principle and its implications.
- God the Creator owns everything - we are stewards
- Accept who you are, what you have, where you are as the foundation to grow
- Seek the truth always and love others as you love you
These three key trustworthy truths are not subjective, evolving principles, but life principles to follow as we interact with others. God, the creator of the universe, owns everything. Living the GAS Principle will change your life, change your views, and change your role as a manager. It might even cancel the need to borrow, except to buy a home. Then you will:
- Be more alert making lifestyle choice with money implications—with spending decisions.
- Reflect on likely consequences and the opportunity cost (what you must give up) before deciding to spend.
- Accept you own nothing but are a steward of everything you use are here on earth.
- Realize accountability is a key part of stewardship and you must account for money and everything you control.