Definitions

According to 1 Peter 4:10, we are “stewards of the manifold grace of God.” What a responsibility is embodied in this statement! It is important for each of us to define this role and understand the value of our entrusted commodity.

• Steward – comes from the Greek word Oikonomos, meaning a manager or an overseer.
• Manifold – comes from the Greek word poikilos, meaning motley, of many colors, variegated, various in character, diverse. Marvin R. Vincent in his Word Studies in the New Testament said, “Manifold in its Greek form is used to scribe the skin of a leopard, different veinings in marble, an embroidered robe, the changing months and the variations of a strain of music.”
• Grace – According to Webster’s New World Dictionary grace means the unmerited love and favor of God toward humans to make them pure and morally strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance says the Hebrew word for grace, chanan, means to stoop in kindness to an inferior, favor, bestow, show favor, have mercy and pity upon. It also says the Greek word for grace, charis, means graciousness of manner or act, the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; acceptable, benefit, favor, and gift.

Embodied in grace are all the wonderful attributes of God, such as mercy, love, kindness, patience, and long-suffering.