Checking Labels In Grocery Stores

Theme / Wise Living

Read Time / 2 Minutes

The practice is prevalent in our culture, but we carry it out in different ways.   When we shop at grocery stores, we each make “values-based” decisions on what to buy.  For some of us, it is checking the contents of the product (perhaps sodium, calories, or gluten-free) before purchasing.  For others of us, it is checking different criteria such as locally grown, organic, eco-friendly, fair-labor practices, cruelty-free, or profits donated to good causes.

Not surprisingly, the “values-based” credential is common in our society today.  A Google search of “values-based” returns a lengthy list: values-based leadership, coaching, recruitment, healthcare, decision-making, marketing, pricing, living, culture, business, management, education, psychiatry, customer-experience, mental health, investing, and more.  In each of these areas, decisions are based on priorities according to values.

In values-based investing, these priorities are often categorized broadly as Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) which aims to generate both social change and financial returns for an investor.  Biblically Responsible Investing (BRI) is a form of SRI which invests in companies that reflect biblical morality in their practices and products. By endorsing these companies financially, Christians can influence change in society – a society that is often opposed to biblical morality.

In the Old Testament, we read of Babylon conquering Israel and taking many Israelites captive back to Babylon.  God, in His infinite wisdom, encourages the captive Israelites to “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7).  By encouraging the good (“peace and prosperity”) in Babylon society, God knew that everyone, including the Israelites, would prosper.

We all make values-based purchasing decisions, whether it is grocery shopping or investing for the future.  In our investment decisions, let us consider investing in what is morally good for society.  In doing so, we will be seeking “peace and prosperity” for ourselves and for others!

Doug Hanson, MBA

Wealth Advisor

208.697.3699

doug@christianwm.com