5 Bible Verses That Show God Cares About Fair Wages:

It is always a good decision to meditate on God's Word. Here is some truth and some commands that show God really cares about fair wages

James 5:1-6

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Leviticus 19:9-10

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Malachi 3:5

Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Deuteronomy 24:14

Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilt of sin.

Proverbs 3:27-28

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.

#fairwages #fairtrade #bible #God #Christians #labor #pay #loveyourneighbor #minimumwage

Good Stewardship Means It's Okay To Buy Luxury Items

I don't know about you, but my memory of what good stewardship was went something like this: be frugal, make the most of what has been given to me, and give to charity.

Good Stewardship Means It's Okay To Buy Luxury Items

Frugality, and the push to stretch every dollar, was at the core of my definition of stewardship. This approach was based upon economics, efficiency, and business finance. It was not based upon the actual definition of stewardship, nor its root word, steward.

Stewardship

- the office, duties, and obligations of a steward

- the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care

Stewardship

A steward is someone who acts on another's behalf in the same way that they would conduct their affairs if they were present. It begs us to define the ownership's motivations, way of conducting business, and their goals. As Christians, and stewards of what God has given us, we should endeavor to find out what are God's goals for the money that we have been entrusted to allocate on His behalf. Likewise, we should conduct transactions as if God Himself were doing it. Based on this, I sought out what I thought God had defined as His goals.

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” -Matthew 22:36-40

His Goals

Therefore, I concluded, what I buy must be based on how much I can love God with the purchase (allocation) and how much love for my neighbor I am achieving. When using the example of shoes, a purchase of a pair of NIKE running shoes, in my opinion, results in some love for myself, but little love for my neighbor. Those shoes are not made from sustainable materials and the workers are not paid a fair wage. Even if I get a crazy good deal and spend very little money, this is not good stewardship. I doubt that God would buy a pair of these running shoes.

Good Stewardship

On the flipside, God would buy a pair of shoes that pay their workers greater than a fair wage, give them great working conditions, and are produced with sustainable materials. The products that meet these criteria would often be viewed as luxury goods due to their high quality materials and higher prices. As an example, the recent dress shoes I bought from NISOLO were around $150, a number that would have been unfathomable to pay a few years ago. Heck, I could go to KOHL'S and get 2-3 very decent pairs of dress shoes for that much. That would be very efficient, but not good stewardship.

Luxury Goods Are Okay

The implications of this concept are that it is okay to buy luxury goods, or what is considered luxury, if those products treat their workers in a way that God would be proud of. If the materials used to create the products were sustainable and had a very low impact on the communities in which they were produced, God would be proud of that. It is reasonable to assume, that in order to love your neighbor, you will have to pay higher prices for things. And that's okay. It is good stewardship. You are allocating resources in the way that God Himself would.

#stewardship #luxury #purchases #frugality #fairtrade #Christian

NOTE: NO COMPANIES MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE ENDORSED, SUPPORTED, OR APPROVED OF THIS ARTICLE. THESE THOUGHTS ARE THE AUTHOR'S OPINIONS ONLY.

The Book, The Dirt Cure, Shocked My Heart And It Started To Beat

Around the time that my daughter was born, my parents gave me a book called "Dirt Cure"

Starting Our Journey

This book started our journey. My wife and I were aware of many of the claims and news articles on working conditions or environmental issues. Like most, we assumed that all of the grievous offenses were outlawed.

We Started Our Research

What we hadn't done was research. We didn't investigate what our potential impact was or what sort of business practices we were supporting. THE DIRT CURE was the gateway drug to the thirst for knowledge about what tolls our lifestyle was exacting upon ourselves. More importantly, we began to learn about the toll that our lifestyle was imposing on others.

10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. -Romans 13:10

THE DIRT CURE taught us about the hormone disruptors given off by plastics. We learned about pesticide effects upon our bodies. More significantly, we learned about the toxicity of pesticides upon the farmers and harvesters that grow our food. We learned about the power of the large companies over farmers, communities, politics, and the food industry. Suddenly, the debate over the value of paying extra for organic produce and pasture raised animals became an issue of ethics and a spiritual imperative.

The Dirt Cure, by Maya Shetreat-Klein, MD

Where Will Your Journey Begin?

Maybe your journey starts with reading this post. Whatever the stage of your journey, I hope that you remain thirsty for the truth.

NOTE: This post was not influenced, supported, or sponsored in any way by any entity related with THE DIRT CURE

#DirtCure #health #food #pesticides #organic #pastured #Christian #stewardship