“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44

This one sentence parable has been on my mind quite a bit recently. Jesus shares back-to-back parables (this and the pearl of great value) and says that the finder goes and sells all that they have as a result.

I run a Bible study at my church where we explore what God’s word has to say about finances and managing money.

Inevitably, as the study progresses, one of the most common questions I get is “What does the Bible say about how we should live? Does Jesus want us to sell all that we have and give the money to the poor?”

Stewardship is a topic that is very dear to my heart. As I’ve studied more on the subject, I first have to ask the question: What is stewardship?

As stewards of what God has given us, it’s our responsibility to manage our finances for the will of the owner.

Scripture tells us in Psalms 24:1 that “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it(NIV).” Thus, the owner of all that we have is God.

Have you ever known someone who is especially generous? Someone who gets excited about sacrificial giving? And after seeing their excitement and enjoyment of being generous has it made you want to grow in your own generosity?

Seeing the joy of generosity first-hand can be contagious.

But, growing in generosity is not simply just forcing yourself to give away more of your money. You can give away 50%, 60%, 70% of your income and that does not necessarily mean you are a generous person.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, crypto, digital assets, and NFTs are all words that have been overtaking the news and social media for the last few years.

But what are they and what’s the big deal? Most importantly, how should we view and approach this new and emerging asset class?

For the last decade or so there’s been an interesting development in the finance sector that’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen. This recent development is decentralized finance, or DeFi for short. This is drastically different from traditional finance that we’ve come to accept as the norm.

When the church (or any group of believers) discusses the intersection of God and money, our role is most commonly conveyed as stewardship.

In the rare instance of Christians discussing money with one another, it is almost inevitable that someone will mention, "I want to be a good steward with what I've been given."

This is absolutely a right and biblical mindset to have, but I fear it has been watered down or lost some of the substance that it is due.

The Christmas season is such a wonderful time of the year. On the surface level it’s filled with family, friends, food, rest, and gifts.

However, on a spiritual level it’s a time of preparation and celebration through, Advent, as well as the meaningful reflection on what the birth of Christ means to us.