Genesis 1:26 – … Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping things that creeps on earth.
God commissioned man to steward over everything on earth that God gave us.
Psalm 24:1 – The earth is the lords and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. Acts 17:26 – … he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.
Everything on earth belongs to God. All the people, all the animals, the land, money, earthly possessions. God has, however, given us specific property to manage, control, and steward. The Bible shows us that everything on earth is God’s and it was created by him. However, it also states that it is ours to manage and to grow. To steward.
So how are we told to manage, grow, and work what God has given us? By being good stewards and working diligently. Several verses lay out this concept: Proverbs 20:4 – the sluggard that does not play in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing. John 15:2 – every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that I t may bear more fruit. John 15:16 – … I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the father in my name, he may give it to you. 1 Corinthians 3:13 – each one’s work will become manifest for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each on has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Matthew 13:12 – For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Luke16: 10 – one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faith in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust you the trust riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another, who will give you that which is your own?
Revelations 2:26 – The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations… What does all this mean? It means we are to work! We are to enter a training program aimed at achieving maturity and responsibility. We are to bear fruit, prune, and then start again. We are to take ownership of each task because our work will ultimately be put to the test. We will answer for our work. This holds true in each trust the firm drafts or legal opinion the firm provides.
God’s training program is one of giving us wealth to manage, testing us, and training us. Once we have been trained, we are ready for more. Just like the son and father relationship. The father trains the son and prepares him for the family’s wealth and legacy. Once the son is ready, he is given wealth to steward and manage.
This is generational living. The model for a great estate plan is mirrored by this godly training program. Fathers and mothers are to implement a program that tests, prepares, trains, and ultimately passes on their wealth to their kids. The kids are prepared and ready to take that wealth and grow it, which then passes on to their kids. This is generational living.
This is the family unit God designed.
