Seeking God’s Wisdom with Dr. Jim Newheiser

This Faith in Finance podcast is underwritten in part by Praxis Investment Management. Since 1994, Praxis has offered investment products designed to meet the practical needs of everyday investors while supporting positive change through impact strategies that go beyond screening. Guided by faith values, Praxis strives to make a positive impact on the world. Learn more at PraxisInvests.com. Proverbs 16, 16 says, How much better to get wisdom than gold?

To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. Hi, I'm Rob West. In a world that chases wealth as the ultimate goal, Scripture calls us to something better, wisdom. Because without godly wisdom, even abundance can lead us astray. Today, Jim Neuheiser joins us to explore why wisdom, not money, is the true measure of success in God's economy.

And then it's onto your calls at 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.

Well, it's a pleasure to welcome Jim Neuheiser back on the program. Jim is a trusted biblical counselor, pastor, and seminary professor, and he's the author of a powerful little book I believe every Christian household should read: Money: Seeking God's Wisdom. Jim, thanks for being with us today. Thank you so much. I'm delighted to be with you.

Jim, we recently released a new study at Faith Phi called Wisdom over Wealth, which explores how the pursuit of wisdom rather than wealth leads to lasting purpose and joy. That's a theme you highlight in day 30 of your devotional, where you reflect on the surpassing value of wisdom over wealth. What led you to focus on that truth?

Well, how we spend our time and how we spend our money really reflects what we value in our hearts. Yet many people invest their time and their money in what does not really satisfy. In Isaiah chapter fifty five, verse two, the Lord declares, Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? listen carefully to me and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. And so the Lord is saying that the things that we pursue in the world that we think are going to make us really happy don't ever really satisfy our souls, and that the ultimate satisfaction comes in our relationship with Him and all that He gives us.

Yeah, there's no doubt about that.

So then, how should that motivate us as believers?

Well, one would be just to pursue knowing God through his word and to invest time in spending the word. Part of the principle, even of rest in the Bible, is that God has made us productive enough in six days so that we can invest a day in seeking the Lord in worship with his people. And during the day, some people are so busy making money, pursuing their career, they'll say, Well, I don't have time to read the Bible, I don't have time to pray with my family. And to recognize that the time invested in our relationship with God is more lucrative in the spiritual sense. than spending every waking moment trying to earn more money that's just going to be burned up in the end anyway.

Yeah, there's no doubt about that.

Jim, as we take a even a deeper dive into this topic of wisdom, what else do you see in the Proverbs that jumps out at you? It's interesting. Proverbs gives all these analogies in these pictures where you have lady wisdom as if she's the soul's true bride, and then there's Madam Folly, both a literal but also a figurative adulteress. And In Proverbs 4, he even uses language where wisdom will be for you like a crown. Same language it uses elsewhere of a wife, is that.

The joy and the satisfaction of pursuing the knowledge of God through his word is going to be precious and delightful in every sense. And the world is tantalizing us with its false wisdom, including money is all that matters, pleasure that money provides will make you happy. And that is spiritual adultery, which will lead to misery. Mm. Wow.

Yeah, that's powerful.

So Jim, in our final moments here in this broadcast, what would you share with our listeners who really want to apply this understanding of the value of wisdom to their lives?

Well, actually, I would plug the book you're giving away, my little book, where for some people who aren't regularly in the Word, it's just two pages a day. It can be a great thing for a husband and wife or a family that it reads the scripture. It Speaks from the scripture to people, so I think building into your life a habit of seeking God in His Word. And for some people, it might be starting with little bite-sized chunks or reading a chapter of Proverbs a day. And Really asking God to speak to you, and He promises that He will give us something better than financial wealth as we taste and see the goodness of God.

No doubt about it. And my experience, Jim, is that this financial journey that we're on is one of the key ways God shapes our spiritual journey. There's just such a huge connection between our hearts and our money. And obviously, God is all about our hearts.

Well, Jim, great advice for us today. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Thank you. My pleasure. May the Lord bless you.

Our guest today has been author and biblical counselor Jim Neuheiser. And if today's conversation sparked a desire to go deeper, we'd love to help you do just that. FaithPhi's brand new study is called Wisdom Over Wealth, 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on Money. You receive a copy when you become a Faith Phi partner at $35 a month or $400 a year when you go to faithphi.com slash give. We'll be right back.

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Well, we're looking forward to taking your calls and questions today. We're going to turn the corner and address what's on your mind. Lines are open. We're ready for your calls at 800-525-7000. That's right, Sandy Dickinson taking our calls today.

She'll get you on the air quickly. And when you call right now, we've got some lines open. 800-525-7,000. All right, looking forward to diving into your questions today. We'd love to hear from you as we tackle whatever's on your mind, whether it's getting into your spending plan and helping you dial back spending to live within your means, especially in light of inflation.

Perhaps it's your giving. You want to give more wisely. Maybe you're wondering about giving out of an IRA through something called a qualified charitable distribution, one of the most powerful giving tools out there you don't want to miss, or a donor-advised fund, what's basically a charitable checking account that can be used really effectively. Let's talk about those topics and More. Maybe it's your long-term investments or paying off debt, whatever's on your mind today.

Call right now, 800-525-7000. Let's go to Ohio and dive in today. We'll begin with Greg. Go ahead, sir. If I just have a question on a A short segment that you spoke about a while back could be as much as two months ago regarding a foundation that could be applied to for grants for ministry organizations.

Yeah, perhaps it was the National Christian Foundation. Does that sound correct? That does. Yeah, now you don't apply there for grants. Basically, you know, they're one of the largest Christian grant-making organizations and one of the largest U.S.-based nonprofits in the country.

It was founded back in the early 80s by Larry Briquette, Ron Blue, and an attorney named Terry Parker. And basically, they help donors give to charitable causes through giving vehicles, primarily donor-advised funds, and then by way of their gift planning attorneys that are on staff, more complex gift opportunities.

So, if you wanted to give away a business or a piece of property or use one of those strategies to really accelerate your giving, they accept both cash and non-cash assets like stocks or real estate. And they've mobilized over, I believe it's $22 billion for more than 90,000 churches, ministries, and charities. They're headquartered here in Atlanta, and basically they offer tax-efficient giving solutions. But if you're a part of a not-for-profit, you wouldn't apply for grants to come to your organization. Basically, NCF serves the giver and helps the giver give more wisely and more effectively, especially as it relates to donor-advised funds and complex gifts, and then help the giver honor their own giving desires as opposed to creating the giving outlets inside NCF, if that makes sense.

I got you. We're on the other end of the spectrum here as far as our ministry is in a need for a grant. Yeah, unfortunately, an NCF would not be the option there. They're really on the other end of the spectrum, just helping givers mobilize their giving. They don't generate their own giving strategies or decide on the ministries that are recipients of the grants.

That's done by the giver. They're just there to help the giver do that more efficiently and effectively.

So you would be looking for perhaps foundations where their stated purpose for their giving aligns with the purpose of your charity or ministry. And they would, you know, perhaps you could apply them for a grant to come your way. That would not be the case with the National Christian Foundation. All right. I appreciate the info.

I appreciate your program for sure. Thank you, Greg. I appreciate you. God bless you, my friend. And I wish I had better news for you there.

Minnesota is where we're headed next. Dale, go ahead. Hi, Rob. Really like your show. It's really a needed ministry for Christians.

It's really helpful. Thank you. That's very kind of you. I'm delighted to hear you say that. Yeah, my question was about: we inherited land from our parents, our dad died first, and then our mom, but we inherited that.

Do you tide then on that property? We don't intend to ever sell it. We'll just pass it on to the next generation. Ah, yes. You know, that's up to you.

I mean, the challenge here is: I love the principle of the tithe. Let's back up. And clearly, we see the tithe in the Old Testament, and I think there's some things we can take away from that: just the beauty of the tithe and the different types of tithe, and how we use that idea of a systematic gift on the increase, starting with the local church.

So, I think that's fabulous. I would say, though, for those of us on this side of the cross, knowing what Christ has done for us, I would say that should be a starting point, not an ending point. Randy Alcorn calls it the training wheels of giving, but I think it is a great place to begin.

Now, when you look at an increase, obviously, you have an increase by way of an asset that you've inherited, but it's illiquid. And so I think at that point, you have to decide: you know, if we don't plan on selling it, therefore, yes, we've realized it because you have an increase on paper, but you may or may not have the resources available to go ahead and make that gift.

Now, if you did and you said we wanted honor the Lord on this increase, even though we haven't realized it, meaning you've realized it, you know, on paper, but you don't have the cash, the liquid assets, then you may say we're not going to tithe on this because we just don't have the ability to do so. And we plan on keeping it in the family and then continuing to pass it down. But if you did have the resources, clearly it is an increase. And if you have the liquid assets to go ahead and acknowledge that before the Lord and make a gift into the kingdom, I think that's fabulous.

So it's a little bit of a challenging area because, you know, folks who are in your position may not always have the liquid cash equivalent to what would be a tithe on what is. Is really a paper increase. Does that make sense?

Well, it really does. It really does.

So it would be kind of up to each individual, you know, would the Lord want you to sell it just so you could tithe and then. And then it'll be out of the family.

So, yeah, it really makes sense. Similarly, then. if you had another asset, say, well, like I bought some land and land prices have really gone up. And so similarly with that, if would you tithe on your increase if you could do it? Or You know what I mean?

It's uh I do. Yeah. And, you know, listen, I mean, the Lord owns it all, right? It's all his. He doesn't need our money.

I think it's what he wants for you and not from you.

So, you know, if you really want to keep this in the family, I mean, ultimately, this is between you and the Lord. I can't tell you what to do. But, you know, I wouldn't sell this just to be able to give because you feel I have to feel like the Lord expects it of you unless you just sense the Lord is leading you to sell it to give it away. But if that's not the case and you're just wanting to honor Him with the tithe, I think one opportunity would be just to continue giving as you can and as you're able. But I don't believe you need to feel obligated to pay a tithe on the value of an inherited property unless the Lord's leading you to do so or you decide to sell it.

Now, you may have other assets that you say, you know, we want to pull from savings or we've got some appreciated stock that we're not necessarily interested in hanging on to. And, you know what, we did receive this inheritance and we want to. Give accordingly, great. But I wouldn't be looking just for me to sell it to quote pay the tithe if your intentions are to keep it in the family and pass it down.

Well, thank you. That was very helpful. And we'll be able to do the latter example that you said.

So that really gives me peace. That's what I was sensing, and you kind of confirmed it.

So thanks again. You're welcome. Lord bless you, Dale. I appreciate you being on the program today. Call anytime, and thanks for your kind remarks as well.

Hey, before we head to this break, let me mention, folks, if you're struggling to stay on budget and maybe trying to figure out how do you balance everything, it was working four years ago, but now with everything 25% higher, it's not working quite as well.

Well, that spending plan is essential for you to be able to stay on track and make sure that the way you're handling God's money truly reflects what's most important to you. The FaithFi app could be just what you need to get your budget set up, but also to manage it well and stay on budget every month.

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We do have some lines open.

So, if you have a financial question today here on Faith and Finance, give us a call, 800-525-7000. We've got lines open, 800-525-7000. Ann-Marie is in Chicago. Hi, Anne-Marie. Go ahead.

Hi, thanks. Very much for taking my call. My question is: I recently lost my job and I am trying to find ways to cut because I have no income coming in.

So, to cut while I'm trying to figure life out, I guess. And I have a couple life insurance policy, and I'm trying to find out that's the only thing left in my budget that I see I could cut. But I'm really hesitant to cut it because The whole purpose of getting the life insurance was so that there would be something for my kids. Once I pass away.

So I'm not sure if it's wise. to stop. The life insurance? Yeah, I mean, I think the first question is: why do you have it? I mean, you've mentioned one reason, and that is you want to use it for an inheritance.

I'm not crazy about that just because, I mean, your kids, you know, may or may not need this money. They're probably going to, you know, be on their own. They have their jobs, their own income. You will probably have something, whether it's through a home equity or other assets that could be passed on. But I can't imagine that they would want you, especially after losing your job and trying to cut every possible expense you can just to balance the budget.

I can't imagine that they would want you to be taking a portion of what you're trying just to, you know, survive and make ends meet to fund a policy that's ultimately going to pay them out money they may or may not need down the road. Really, the purpose of life insurance is more about replacing income that's lost if you or your husband passes away, and the one that's left, you know, if your husband passes away, when you're You're left, does that create a financial hardship for you? Because he's working and providing income. If he dies, that income goes away. Are you all of a sudden in a more difficult spot than you're in right now because your primary source of income is gone and you don't have enough in the way of retirement assets and other resources?

That's the reason you want life insurance. And I would do that through a term policy. And you'd want to tie the term to his expected retirement, which is the point at which his income is going to go away anyway. And so that risk is gone. But let's get the amount of insurance coverage you need, but just for that period of time that gets you through both of your working years.

But to the extent you were to say, no, if he passes away, that doesn't change anything for me in terms of my ability to fund my lifestyle and vice versa. If I pass away, it doesn't create a hardship on him. Then in my estimation, the life insurance is not necessary. But if you're still saving and One of you passing away would create a hardship for the other one, then you do need life insurance. And then the question is: what's the right policy?

And that's where, again, I would go back to term insurance is going to allow you to get the coverage you need, which at a minimum is probably 10 to 12 times the income you're trying to replace, and do it for as little cost as possible, but only for the term that matches the the amount of years you're expecting to continue to continue to work. Does that make sense, Anne-Marie? It sure does. And I think my biggest hiccup was that, you know, we have two remaining children, and one, I think she's okay. I'm good.

thirty three, she got her own life. Our youngest is nineteen. It's just embarking on the second year in college. And I have this insurance to Primerica, which is pretty hefty. And I'm thinking, like you mentioned the term life, I'm thinking You know, probably, you know, just cancel it, and then, if anything, Your point, do a cheaper term life because the 19-year-old is the one that we're concerned with.

You know, if something should happen to both of us, God forbid, you know, at least this will help her. But we have, you know, I have other assets, and it's not a lot. I'm not a, you know, it's but you like my IRAs and my 401k. The the two kids are the beneficiaries of it.

So it would hold them over for a while. And it's not like our insurance that we have, the maximum is two hundred and fifty thousand.

So in the context of amount, it's not really grand. You see what I'm saying?

So to your point, I do understand. Probably I should I should, yeah, because it's it's really hard. I could save, you know, taking them away and get something cheaper. I think so, but two things I would add. Number one is Prime Merica is not known for having the most cost-effective life insurance in the world.

So I think you absolutely could probably get more coverage for the same money or the same coverage for less money. Number two, I would make sure that you get that new policy in place before you cancel this one. Because even though it's expensive, the last thing I would want to happen is you cancel it and you're planning to go get another one. And in the middle of those two, the Lord calls you home, God forbid, and now your 19-year-old doesn't have the resources that she needs.

So I would just say get that new policy in place and then cancel the old one.

Okay. Do you have any recommendations where I could go to get a policy? You know, you could perhaps ask around at your church or call a CKA in the area and ask for a referral. You could look for, you know, an online life insurance tool. There's a lot of them out there.

Like, you know, the three best I think that NerdWallet recommends is Select Quote would be one of them to find basically to shop around, you know, if you're looking for the lowest cost policy. And so I would probably use Select Quote would be the one I would look for. All right. Thank you so very much. I really appreciate it.

You're welcome. Thanks for your call today. We appreciate you. Let's see. Out to Texas.

Hi, Robert. How can I help you? Yes, sir. I owe $47,000 on my house. It's probably worth around $75,000 to $80,000 now.

My father-in-law is thinking about moving in with his wife, which is a weird situation I know, but he only owes $24,000 on his house. But there's a lot of problems with it. If I sell my I make $40,000 before taxes, if I sell my house for $75,000, do I get taxed for the full $75,000 or just the $30,000 I make? From what I owe on it. Yeah, so when you sell an appreciated asset like a home, there's capital gains tax.

And so the capital gain has nothing to do with whether or not there's a mortgage on the property. It has everything to do with how much you made on that home. And when you put that profit, that capital gain together with all of your other income, then that will determine whether or not you have a long-term capital gain and what the rate is.

So are you going to make a profit on it? Um, I bought it for fifty thousand, yes.

Okay, and you think uh and how did you put money into it to that improve the value of it over time? No, I haven't done anything to improve it.

Okay. And so you think you're going to make about $30,000 on it? In theory, that would be a good goal, yes.

Okay. All right. So I think, you know, that's really the driver there.

So you're going to put that 30, let's say you make 30, you're going to put that together with your income. Do you file single or married? Married.

Okay, so if that gain plus all of your other income together, taxable income, minus deductions, if that goes over 94,000 as married filing jointly, then you're going to pay 15% on that gain. If you're under $94,000, then you'll have zero. But that includes not only all your income, but the gain itself. I hope that helps, Robert. Thanks for your call today, sir.

God bless you. Big thanks to Lisa, Jim, Dan, and Doreena. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithFi and listeners like you.