“The concept of stewardship permeates Scripture…As creatures who are able to alter and reshape the world, we are bound by the Creator to be good stewards.” (David Kinnaman, Abbot Tryphon)
“We were created to “rule” the earth, not in a tyrannical way, but rather as images of God. In other words, we are to govern the earth in love, to take care of the physical world that God has given to us.” (Clark Carlton)
“…the very existence of the universe depends on the creative power of God. The world we live in was created by God and belongs to Him. His absolute ownership requires our faithful stewardship of all things.” (Foundation Study Bible, Genesis 1:1)
“God has appointed us stewards over His creation, yet because of sin we do not exercise our stewardship as the Lord intends. Until we are healed, it is impossible for us to subdue without tyrannizing, crushing, or deforming the creatures with whom we share this earth. In the Hebrew account of creation, the principal meaning of subdue is “to form or to shape” (Gn 1:28). However, more often than not we damage, distort, and pollute when we apply our God-given capacities, for “professing to be wise,” our thinking is “futile” (Rom 1:22).” (OCPM 7/21/2017)
“…if we feel that our body is ours and that our life is ours, and we fit God into a compartment, then He is like a tenant. We don’t have a stake in Him. And even though He has a stake in us, it is hard to feel that when we are the owner and He is the tenant. When we see God as the owner of our body and the Lord of our life, then we see ourselves as tenants with the Lord as the over-arching landlord. Thus, we live for Him, and not for ourselves. And this is when we most acutely feel Him “with us.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis)
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