A month has passed since I began my blog (www.savvysamurai.com) back in Oct 2006. I’ve written about various topics and up till now I feel like much of my content has been very random. There’s no common theme and nothing that really ties it all together. I just came back from a week long trip and I had a lot of time to think about what my blog should really center around. There are so many finance blogs out there so what makes mine different from the others? Many people avoid bringing up the topic of faith and religion because its can be divisive or even offensive (I commend those that do bring it up in their blogs). For my life, Jesus and the Bible will inherently play a major role in my dealings with money and finance. Jesus knew that are souls are linked very closely with how we view and handle money and possessions and therefore spoke quite often about it throughout the Gospels.

Matthew 6:19-24 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

How does my relationship with Christ affect my daily financial choices? God has entrusted me with money and possessions in this lifetime.

Luke 16:10-12 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”

Am I being a good steward of what He has given to me? How is a follower of Christ supposed to break free from a consumer-oriented culture and make the right decisions? I trust that there are many others that wrestle with similar questions. If these types of discussions spark an interest in you, then stay tuned for more…