How to be good stewards of God's grace

Table of Contents

After diving into what grace is and why we need it, what it means to be justified by grace, and how grace abounds in our lives, we must bring it all together to realize how to also be good stewards of God’s grace. Knowing how to be good stewards of God’s grace is vital to the life of every Christian because it helps us to understand the calling we have all been given.

The grace of God is undeserved favor bestowed on believers by God through Jesus Christ. It is loving-kindness, goodwill, and mercy from God given to sinners who don’t deserve it (read the full study). By God’s grace, Jesus died to provide the Way of salvation for all who believe (read the full study). Being justified by grace means that, once we have faith in Jesus and receive His salvation, we are forgiven of our sins, made right with God, enter into a relationship with Him, and receive the Holy Spirit who begins the work of sanctification, making us new creations for, by, and through the glory of God (read the full study).

God’s grace abounds in our lives in many ways, some of which include:

God’s grace leads us to Him
God’s grace forgives our sins
God’s grace leads us to worship Him
God’s grace equips us and provides for us
God’s grace calls us to serve Him
God’s grace uses us to display His love and share His truth
God’s grace changes us to be more like Him

(Read full study)

How can we be good stewards of God’s grace?

Having a grasp on what grace is and how God uses it in our lives, we then turn to how we should be good stewards of God’s grace. Each follower of Jesus Christ receives the same calling to follow Christ; abide in Him, obey His instructions, and love as He loves.

³⁴“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35 CSB

¹⁵“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
John 14:15 ESV

⁴Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, ⁵but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: ⁶whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
1 John 2:4-6 ESV

Follow Jesus

By following Jesus we live like Christ. We display His attributes, bearing the fruit of the Spirit, and draw others to Him by His love and grace pouring through our lives. To be good stewards of God’s grace is to imitate His grace, pouring it out onto others as Christ did and does for us.

⁴Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.
John 15:4 CSB

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.^[a]
Galatians 5:22-23 CSB

We do not become more like Christ by our own efforts or power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, indwelling us by the grace of God, transforming us from the inside out. His Spirit works in us as we choose to follow and learn more about the ways of Christ throughout our lives. By investing time with God in prayer, in His Word, and with His people, we can come to know Him more and therefore become better examples of Him to others.

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20 ESV

²Do not be conformed to this world,^[a] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.^[b]
Romans 12:2 ESV

Forgive as God forgives

Remember, grace is undeserved. We likewise don’t deserve forgiveness from God, and we often believe others don’t deserve it from us. If we hold to and act upon that belief then we are neglecting the grace we have been given that we likewise do not deserve, and we fail to imitate Christ. While you, me, and that person you don’t want to forgive are all sinners who deserve punishment for our sins, Christ died and paid that price for every one of us.

²³For all have sinned and fall short of the^[a] glory of God;
Romans 3:23 CSB

²⁵Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. ²⁶Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷and give no opportunity to the devil. ²⁸Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³²Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
Ephesians 4:25-5:1 ESV

Christ died for all people, not just the ones you like or agree with, or the ones you think deserve it – all. This is all by God’s grace that any of us are offered this free gift of salvation and can repent and be forgiven of our sins, to then be transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit within us who leads us to Christ-like, godly living. By forgiving others, we are being good stewards of God’s grace, and obedient to His commands.

³²Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32 ESV

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.^[a] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

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Serve God by serving others

All we do should be done for God, with a heart of willing and obedient service, out of love for our Creator and Savior. We are instructed to love as He loves and forgive as He forgives us. Love others as God defines love, bear with one another, encourage each other, build others up, and serve in the ways with the blessings and resources which God, by His grace, has blessed you with.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, ⁵is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. ⁶Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. ⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 CSB

⁴⁵For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:45 ESV

To be a good steward of God’s grace is to use the blessings, resources, skills, position, talents, and all that we have been given to follow Christ, live like Him, forgive, love, and serve God. All that we have is by the grace of God, and should likewise be used to display His grace in all areas and relationships in our lives.

¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10 CSB

²³Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, ²⁴knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3:23-24 ESV

Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.
1 Peter 4:10 CSB

God blesses us with everything we need and more to complete the work He has prepared for us to do. He gives us opportunities to love and serve people in order to honor and serve Him. By serving His people with the desire to serve and bring Him glory, we are good stewards of the grace of God. Nothing we have is of our own making or doing. All of it is a gift from our Heavenly Father by His grace alone and should be used in the ways He instructs and prompts us.

³⁵And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
Mark 9:35 ESV

²⁶If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
John 12:26 ESV

¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Galatians 5:13 ESV

²⁴“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.^[a]
Matthew 6:24 ESV

How do we show grace to others?

By believing in and following Jesus, loving and obeying Him, forgiving and serving others out of love, and recognizing that all we have is from and for God, we can be good stewards of God’s grace in our lives. By these things, we can pour out His grace into all areas of our lives, as well as to the people around us, which can plant seeds in the hearts of others and draw them closer to the Truth of the Gospel and faith in Jesus as well.

Love as He loves. Forgive as He forgives. Serve as He serves. Learn more about Him through His Word, grow in relationship with Him through prayer, and obedience toward Him through all these things and we will be good stewards of the grace of God and examples to others to do likewise.

Have you accepted the grace of God?

If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.

If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here: