Biblical Stewardship Parables
Financial stewardship is a biblical principal.
The Bible offers several illustrations or parables related to wise financial management. God expects us to be fruitful and responsible in all areas of our lives. The parables below emphasize the biblical principles of financial stewardship. Click on links below to read scriptures related to stewardship.
Luke 19:11-26 The Parable of the Stewards
Matthew 25:14-28 The Parable of the Talents
Luke 16:1-12 The Unrighteous Steward
Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus
Stewardship - Related Verses
Luke 19:11-26 The Parable of the Stewards
Luk 19:11 While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
Luk 19:12 So He said, "A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and {then} return.
Luk 19:13 "And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, 'Do business {with this} until I come {back.}'
Luk 19:14 "But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us.'
Luk 19:15 "When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done.
Luk 19:16 "The first appeared, saying, 'Master, your mina has made ten minas more.'
Luk 19:17 "And he said to him, 'Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.'
Luk 19:18 "The second came, saying, 'Your mina, master, has made five minas.'
Luk 19:19 "And he said to him also, 'And you are to be over five cities.'
Luk 19:20 "Another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief;
Luk 19:21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.'
Luk 19:22 "He *said to him, 'By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?
Luk 19:23 'Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?'
Luk 19:24 "Then he said to the bystanders, 'Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.'
Luk 19:25 "And they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas {already.}'
Luk 19:26 "I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
Matthew 25:14-28 The Parable of the Talents
Mat 25:14 "For {it is} just like a man {about} to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.
Mat 25:15 "To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey
. Mat 25:16 "Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.
Mat 25:17 "In the same manner the one who {had received} the two {talents} gained two more.
Mat 25:18 "But he who received the one {talent} went away, and dug {a hole} in the ground and hid his master's money.
Mat 25:19 "Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *settled accounts with them.
Mat 25:20 "The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.'
Mat 25:21 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'
Mat 25:22 "Also the one who {had received} the two talents came up and said, 'Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.'
Mat 25:23 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'
Mat 25:24 "And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no {seed.}
Mat 25:25 'And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.'
Mat 25:26 "But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no {seed.}
Mat 25:27 'Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my {money} back with interest.
Mat 25:28 'Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.'
Mat 25:29 "For to everyone who has, {more} shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
Mat 25:30 "Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Brief Commentary on the Talents and Stewardship: Christians are responsible before God for how they invest the resources entrusted to them, as the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) makes clear. In many cases, money spent on gambling is money that should have gone to provide for the well-being of one's family or the advancement of a worthy cause. In all cases, it is an unwise investment with an almost-certain negative return. More importantly, such spending propagates an immoral, predatory and exploitative industry.
Luke 16:1-12 The Unrighteous Steward
Luk 16:1 Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this {manager} was reported to him as squandering his possessions
. Luk 16:2 "And he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.'
Luk 16:3 "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.
Luk 16:4 'I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.'
Luk 16:5 "And he summoned each one of his master's debtors, and he {began} saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
Luk 16:6 "And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'
Luk 16:7 "Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He *said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'
Luk 16:8 "And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.
Luk 16:9 "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
Luk 16:10 "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
Luk 16:11 "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the {use of} unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true {riches} to you?
Luk 16:12 "And if you have not been faithful in {the use of} that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?
Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus
Luk 16:19 "Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.
Luk 16:20 "And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores,
Luk 16:21 and longing to be fed with the {crumbs} which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.
Luk 16:22 "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.
Luk 16:23 "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luk 16:24 "And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'
Luk 16:25 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.
Luk 16:26 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and {that} none may cross over from there to us.'
Luk 16:27 "And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father's house--
Luk 16:28 for I have five brothers--in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
Luk 16:29 "But Abraham *said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.'
Luk 16:30 "But he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!'
Luk 16:31 "But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.' "
Stewardship - Related Verses
Jdg 18:5 They said to him, "Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be prosperous."
Jdg 18:6 The priest said to them, "Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the LORD'S approval." [Asking Micah's priest to seek direction from God, so that they might prosper.]
Pro 13:16 Every prudent man acts with knowledge, But a fool displays folly.
Pro 13:25 The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, But the stomach of the wicked is in need.
Hag 1:6 "You have sown much, but harvest little; {you} eat, but {there is} not {enough} to be satisfied; {you} drink, but {there is} not {enough} to become drunk; {you} put on clothing, but no one is warm {enough;} and he who earns, earns wages {to put} into a purse with holes."
Hag 1:7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways!
Luk 12:48 "…From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. "
Rom 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
Rom 14:11 For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD."
Rom 14:12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
Rom 14:13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this--not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way.
1Cr 4:1 Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
1Cr 4:2 In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.
2Cr 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Col 3:17 Whatever you do in word or deed, {do} all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
1Ti 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
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