God Created Us To Reflect His Character Through Joyful Stewardship—Not Selfish Grasping.
FOCUS TEXT: Exodus 20:15; Genesis 1–3; Matthew 6:19–24; Philippians 2:5-8
Good morning, Anchor Church! This week in our series Ten Commandments: Law That Leads to Life, we came to the eighth command: “You shall not steal.” Scripture shows this is far more than a rule about property. It reaches to worship, trust, justice, and the kind of people God is forming us to be. The Bible begins with a God who gives—and it forms a people who steward gifts, not grasp for them.
Truth #1: We were created to reflect God’s character through stewardship (Gen. 1–2)
Before sin, humanity bore God’s image and was commissioned to exercise dominion—not domination, but stewardship under God’s rule (Gen. 1:26–28; 2:15). “Work and keep” the garden was worship in action: cultivating, guarding, and enjoying what God entrusted. When the Giver is our treasure, we hold His gifts with open hands. Right worship produces right stewardship.
Truth #2: Sin twisted stewardship into selfish grasping (Gen. 3)
The serpent reframed God’s generosity as restriction. Doubt took root; desire led to grasping; trust in the Father collapsed. Adam and Eve reached for what God withheld and exposed the heart beneath every theft—misplaced worship (Rom. 1:25). Jesus addresses this root: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… You cannot serve God and money” (Matt. 6:21, 24). Stealing isn’t merely taking things; it’s serving the wrong master.
Truth #3: Grasping leads to ruin, not flourishing (Gen. 3:7–19)
The instant grasping entered, shame, fear, blame, toil, and death followed. Grasping corrodes relationships and communities: it erodes trust, exploits the vulnerable, and requires justice to restrain harm (honest weights, fair wages, restitution). Scripture is clear: earthly treasure rots, rusts, and is stolen (Matt. 6:19). The path of clutching “mine, mine, mine” always narrows into emptiness and leads to death.
Truth #4: Jesus restores our treasuring of God and our stewardship (Phil. 2:5–8; 2 Cor. 8:9)
Where Adam grasped, Christ did not. “Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself…” (Phil. 2). At the cross He bore our grasping and, by His poverty, makes us truly rich in God (2 Cor. 8:9). Grace doesn’t only forgive; it re-forms us into stewards. Think of Zacchaeus: the taker becomes a restorer and a giver (Luke 19:8). In Christ, the Spirit reorders what sin disordered—hearts that treasure God, hands that open in generosity, practices that honor justice.
Walking it out
Worship before work: Begin your days presenting your finances, time, and gifts to the Lord. Stewardship flows from adoration.
Practice justice: Pay fairly, bill honestly, return what isn’t yours, tell the truth in the gray areas (expense reports, time sheets, taxes).
Choose generosity: Budget a “firstfruits” gift; plan to meet a need; open your table. Generosity trains the heart to trust God.
Make restitution where needed: If your grasping harmed someone, seek to make it right. Grace empowers courageous repair.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
What does my use of money, time, and possessions reveal about what I treasure?
Where am I tempted to “secure myself” apart from trusting God?
Is there any hidden taking—time, credit, attention, digital content, small compromises—that the Spirit is naming today?
Whom could I bless this week with intentional generosity?
PRAYER OF RESPONSE: Father, You are the generous Giver of every good gift. Forgive my grasping and my mistrust. Through Jesus who emptied Himself for me, wash my heart, reorder my loves, and make me a faithful steward. Holy Spirit, loosen my grip, enlarge my generosity, and lead me to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. Let my life tell the truth about Your goodness. In Jesus’ name, amen.
MEMORY VERSE: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” — Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
Bottom line: In the gospel, thieves become stewards and takers become givers. Jesus is the true treasure—and when He is our treasure, our hands finally open.
