God’s Ownership, Our Stewardship

Biblical Financial Wisdom Webinar with Bert Williams

If you had asked a young Bert Williams in Arkansas whether life would take him from pharmacy school to corporate leadership, entrepreneurship, church planting, and ultimately into pastoral ministry focused on stewardship and generosity, he probably wouldn’t have guessed the path God had ordained. Yet, as Bert reflects on his life, he sees breadcrumbs—small ways God prepared him for the role he serves today: Stewardship and Generosity Pastor at Christ Church of the Valley in Phoenix.

Bert’s story is relatable in many ways—loss and transition, professional pivots, successes and setbacks—but the richest part of our conversation is the biblical financial wisdom he shares and how that applies to believers at every stage of life.

Here are a few takeaways and lessons from our discussion that can help you on your own financial journey of wise stewardship.

God Owns It All

Our conversation starts where every biblical talk about money should begin: God owns it all. Most Christians can intellectually acknowledge that God owns everything (Psalm 24:1), but Bert challenges us to ask: Do we really believe that, and do we live like it?

When we truly embrace the truth of God’s provision, our role shifts. We aren’t owners; we’re stewards. We don’t merely “have” resources. We’re entrusted with them. And stewardship isn’t passive. It’s a calling to manage what we’ve been given in a way that honors the One who gave it.

That reframing is subtle, but powerful. It moves financial planning out of the category of control and into the category of faithfulness.

God Provides It All

Bert also emphasizes that God isn’t only the Owner. He’s the Provider. Every opportunity, increase, and blessing ultimately comes from Him. That isn’t meant to deny hard work; it’s meant to keep success from turning into self-reliance.

When provision is viewed as a gift—not just an achievement—gratitude grows. So does contentment. And when contentment grows, we’re less tempted to anchor our security to the size of our portfolio or the pace of our income.

Stewardship Requires Intentionality

One of the most practical insights Bert shares is also one of the most overlooked: faithful stewardship requires clarity, especially about lifestyle.

As income rises, many people gradually stop paying attention to spending. Bert has heard the line directly: “I don’t need a budget—I just out-earn my expenses.” The problem is that when you don’t know what your lifestyle costs, you’re not steering anything. You’re just drifting—often into higher expenses, higher taxes, and less margin.

Bert reframes budgeting in a way that feels more like stewardship than restriction: it’s not about removing joy; it’s about clarifying your lifestyle so you can make wise decisions about saving, giving, and planning for the future.

And from a planning perspective, this matters for another reason: if you don’t know what it costs to live today, it’s nearly impossible to plan confidently for retirement, generosity, and long-term priorities.

Tithing Is a Test of Trust—Not the Full Expression of Giving

Bert holds a distinction between tithing and generosity. Many people use those terms interchangeably, but Bert argues they’re two different categories—and Scripture uses different language for each.

Tithing is structured with three distinct elements:

• When: first
• How much: 10% of increase
• Where: the local church (the “storehouse”)

Tithing is God’s way of teaching trust. It’s not about joy. It’s about obedience. God says, “Test Me in this” (Malachi 3:10). When we respond faithfully, He proves His faithfulness.

Once trust is established through faithful tithing, our hearts are more open to joyful generosity:

• When: as the Spirit prompts
• How much: above and beyond the tithe
• Where: where it advances the gospel and meets real needs

Bert reminds us that generosity isn’t legally bound—it’s relational. Where tithing is obedience, generosity is joyful partnership with God’s heart for others.

Contentment and Lifestyle Capping

One of the biggest obstacles to generosity, especially for business owners and high earners, is a lack of contentment. Without contentment, lifestyle keeps expanding, and margin keeps shrinking.

But when lifestyle is thoughtfully stewarded, a different dynamic takes over. Extra income doesn’t automatically become extra consumption. It becomes margin that can be directed toward purpose: saving wisely, paying off debt, planning for the future, and giving generously.

Wisdom Must Outpace Wealth

Near the end of the conversation, Bert shares a guiding principle that matters for every stage of life: If wealth outgrows wisdom, trouble follows.

That’s why he emphasizes surrounding yourself with wise counsel—through your local church community, trusted mentors, and financial professionals who share a biblical worldview. Resources like Kingdom Advisors, Generous Giving, and National Christian Foundation can help families ensure that as resources grow, wisdom grows with them.

What ties Bert’s story and counsel together is a calm confidence in God’s faithfulness. Looking back at his “breadcrumbs,” he sees that God was leading all along—even when the next step wasn’t clear.

And that’s the invitation for all of us: to approach money not as an endpoint, but as an assignment—owned by God, entrusted to us, and meant to bless others.

If you’d like help applying these principles more intentionally within your financial plan and stewardship journey, our team would be honored to walk alongside you.