THE MEANING OF STEWARDSHIP OF CREATION
Stewardship Formation * creation
You live in a world that existed before you… and will continue after you. You did not create it, God did.
The air you breathe, the ground you walk on, the order that allows life to exist — none of it comes from you.
However, God Who created it has placed it, for a time, in your hands.
Not to own.
Not to use without thought.
But to care for.
The question is simple:
What does it mean that God has entrusted His world to you?
What does it mean that God has entrusted His world to you?
Those with disordered passions, who lack the capacity to act according to God’s Will, take positions they should never hold. And when this happens, the world suffers. Just look at the state of the world today.
Understand this: when the righteous fail to act, the wicked take the gates. When those God has called to build, guard, and order the world become passive, a vacuum opens — and the wrong people step forward to fill it.
It means that you ought to figure out what your place is in creation. This matters, because it is the first step to reclaiming the role that is rightfully yours — the responsibility God entrusted to you in His creation.
What Scripture shows us
From the beginning
From the beginning, God did not place the human person in creation as a passive presence.
He gave responsibility.
Info
subdue it
“Subdue” (in Hebrew kāvaš) means to bring creation into ordered fruitfulness.
It is about:
- bringing into order
- making fruitful
- harnessing potential
- transforming raw creation into cultivated creation
- exercising mastery that enables life to flourish
have dominion
“Have dominion” (in Hebrew rādāh) means to govern creation as God’s representative. It is about:
- governing as God’s representative
- exercising authority that reflects God’s justice and goodness
- protecting, guiding, and overseeing
- ruling for the sake of the flourishing of what is ruled
Gerhard von Rad notes in his commentary on Genesis that this dominion is “royal stewardship” — a form of governance that orders, protects, and cultivates creation rather than exploiting it.
Both terms describe stewardship: authority exercised for the good of what is entrusted, in continuity with God’s own way of ruling.
What scholars say
This stewardship responsibility is given to humanity — male and female — together and equally, not just men:
“God created man in His image… male and female He created them.” — Genesis 1:27
The task entrusted
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
— Genesis 2:15
Two words define the task:
To keep → to guard, to protect, to preserve
To till → to cultivate, to develop, to make fruitful
This is what stewardship is about.
You are not asked to use without care,
nor to preserve without using.
You are called to cultivate and to guard —
to develop without destroying,
and to preserve without neglecting.
You are called
The earth is the Lord’s
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
for He has founded it on the seas,
and established it on the rivers.
— Psalms 24:1-2
If this is true, and it is
It means that nothing you use is truly yours.
It means that the world is not yours, but you are responsible for it because God has placed it in your hands.
And anything placed in your hands carries an expectation: that you will answer for it.
You are called to use what you need, and to care for what you use.
“The earth was here before us and it has been given to us… This implies a relationship of mutual responsibility between human beings and nature.” (Laudato Si’, §67)
“It is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.” — 1 Corinthians 4:2
The way you use what has been given matters.
Info
Stewardship is not activism.
It is responsibility before God.
What this means for you
Stewardship of creation is not a theory or an abstract topic. It about:
the way you treat what has been given
the home you live in
the space you create for life
the food you eat
Consider
What you leave behind
What you preserve
What you waste
How you use it
What you use
It is about whether your presence and your actions build, maintain, or damage creation.
Formation — moving into action
Start with what is already in your hands. These are the beginning of real responsibility.
Do not stay at the level of understanding.
this week
- Identify one form of waste in your daily life.
- Reduce it concretely — not in theory, in practice.
Today
- Pay attention to one thing you normally use without thinking (water, food, electricity, space).
- Use it well, without excess.
at home
- Choose one area of your house that is disordered or neglected.
- Put it back into order and maintain it.
Stewardship begins when you stop treating things as if they are simply there for you…
…and start recognising that they have been entrusted to you.
Closing
Thank you!
© 2026 Muriel Akahi — All rights reserved. Content created for MA.com Formation Programme. Unauthorised reproduction or distribution is prohibited.
“God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’” — Genesis 1:28
THE MEANING OF STEWARDSHIP OF CREATION
Muriel Akahi
Created on April 19, 2026
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Transcript
THE MEANING OF STEWARDSHIP OF CREATION
Stewardship Formation * creation
You live in a world that existed before you… and will continue after you. You did not create it, God did. The air you breathe, the ground you walk on, the order that allows life to exist — none of it comes from you.
However, God Who created it has placed it, for a time, in your hands. Not to own. Not to use without thought. But to care for. The question is simple: What does it mean that God has entrusted His world to you?
What does it mean that God has entrusted His world to you?
Those with disordered passions, who lack the capacity to act according to God’s Will, take positions they should never hold. And when this happens, the world suffers. Just look at the state of the world today.
Understand this: when the righteous fail to act, the wicked take the gates. When those God has called to build, guard, and order the world become passive, a vacuum opens — and the wrong people step forward to fill it.
It means that you ought to figure out what your place is in creation. This matters, because it is the first step to reclaiming the role that is rightfully yours — the responsibility God entrusted to you in His creation.
What Scripture shows us
From the beginning
From the beginning, God did not place the human person in creation as a passive presence. He gave responsibility.
Info
subdue it
“Subdue” (in Hebrew kāvaš) means to bring creation into ordered fruitfulness. It is about:
have dominion
“Have dominion” (in Hebrew rādāh) means to govern creation as God’s representative. It is about:
Gerhard von Rad notes in his commentary on Genesis that this dominion is “royal stewardship” — a form of governance that orders, protects, and cultivates creation rather than exploiting it. Both terms describe stewardship: authority exercised for the good of what is entrusted, in continuity with God’s own way of ruling.
What scholars say
This stewardship responsibility is given to humanity — male and female — together and equally, not just men: “God created man in His image… male and female He created them.” — Genesis 1:27
The task entrusted
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
— Genesis 2:15
Two words define the task:
To keep → to guard, to protect, to preserve
To till → to cultivate, to develop, to make fruitful
This is what stewardship is about. You are not asked to use without care, nor to preserve without using. You are called to cultivate and to guard — to develop without destroying, and to preserve without neglecting.
You are called
The earth is the Lord’s
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for He has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers.
— Psalms 24:1-2
If this is true, and it is
It means that nothing you use is truly yours.
It means that the world is not yours, but you are responsible for it because God has placed it in your hands.
And anything placed in your hands carries an expectation: that you will answer for it.
You are called to use what you need, and to care for what you use.
“The earth was here before us and it has been given to us… This implies a relationship of mutual responsibility between human beings and nature.” (Laudato Si’, §67)
“It is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.” — 1 Corinthians 4:2
The way you use what has been given matters.
Info
Stewardship is not activism. It is responsibility before God.
What this means for you
Stewardship of creation is not a theory or an abstract topic. It about:
the way you treat what has been given
the home you live in
the space you create for life
the food you eat
Consider
What you leave behind
What you preserve
What you waste
How you use it
What you use
It is about whether your presence and your actions build, maintain, or damage creation.
Formation — moving into action
Start with what is already in your hands. These are the beginning of real responsibility.
Do not stay at the level of understanding.
this week
Today
at home
Stewardship begins when you stop treating things as if they are simply there for you… …and start recognising that they have been entrusted to you.
Closing
Thank you!
© 2026 Muriel Akahi — All rights reserved. Content created for MA.com Formation Programme. Unauthorised reproduction or distribution is prohibited.
“God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’” — Genesis 1:28