Gift Cards

A lot of times we are pressured into foolish decisions simply by the culture we live in. Seth Godin has a great post about the gift card industry, which last year profited companies more than $8,000,000,000 dollars. The post is definitely worth the clickthrough, but here's my favorite paragraph:

Along the way, we bought the story that giving someone a hundred dollar
bill as a gift ("go buy what you want") is callous, insensitive, a crass
shortcut. Buying them a $100 Best Buy card, on the other hand, is thoughtful.
Even if they spend $92 and have to waste the rest.

I know I've wasted money on gift cards before and never really thought about where that money was going. JM

Matthew 27:20

Why are people so easily swayed? It seems like it's easy to make a bad decision and that the propensity to make a bad decision increases relative to the number of people surrounding you. Excitement and energy multiply. Your adrenaline starts pumping and so you can be convinced to do something you normally wouldn't: lie to cover up a mistake, drink, release an evil murderer from prison, etc. I hope that I always make decisions based on what God wants of me rather than being so influenced by those around me. JM