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Stewardship and the Natural World

Is the world just a resource to use up, or a gift to look after? Learn how Christians see themselves as stewards of creation, and what that means for how they treat the planet.

⏱️ 16 min 🎯 14 activities Teachers Not yet rated Students Not yet rated

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What you'll cover

Whose world is it? 🌱

Is the natural world just a resource to use up, or a gift to be looked after? Most Christians believe humans are **stewards**: caretakers of a world that belongs to God. Learn what that means and how they act on it.

Words to know 🔑

Four ideas run through Christian teaching on the environment:

Use it or care for it? ⚖️

People treat the natural world in very different ways.

Name it 🎯

What does Christian stewardship of the earth mean?

  • Caring for creation on behalf of God
  • Using up resources as fast as possible
  • Owning the earth for personal profit
  • Ignoring the natural world completely

Match the term 🔗

  • Creation
  • Stewardship
  • Dominion
  • Commodity
  • The world, believed to be made by God
  • Caring for the world on behalf of God
  • The authority God gives humans over creation
  • Something treated only as a resource to use

In the beginning 💡

The book of Genesis, chapters 1 and 2, teaches that God made the world and called it good, then gave humans the task of caring for it. Genesis chapter 1 verse 28 speaks of dominion: some read this as ruling over nature, but many Christians read it as responsible stewardship, looking after creation for God.

Caring for creation ✅

Which THREE are ways Christians show stewardship of the earth?

  • Recycling and reducing waste
  • Using less energy
  • Protecting forests and wildlife
  • Polluting rivers to save money
  • Wasting resources on purpose

A steward acts 🪜

An interactive activity.

Complete the idea 🧩

Christians believe the world is a _____ made by God, not just a _____ to use up. Being a _____ means caring for the earth for God. The book of _____ teaches that creation is good. So many Christians try to reduce waste and _____ the natural world.

creation commodity steward Genesis protect profit ruler science pollute ignore

True or not? 🖍️

An interactive activity.

How it helps 🔀

  • Recycling
  • Using less energy
  • Protecting forests
  • Sharing resources fairly
  • Reduces waste and saves resources
  • Cuts pollution and slows climate change
  • Saves habitats and wildlife
  • Helps the poorest and future generations

Choose as a steward 🧭

An interactive activity.

Why care? 📜

An interactive activity.

Explain the teaching ✍️

An interactive activity.