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Sign up at CrossmarkGlobal.com. can quickly become a pursuit of status. Today we'll look at how chasing approval leaves us empty and how God invites us into something much greater.
Then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. This is faith and finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. The Bible Project says Ecclesiastes targets all the ways we try to build meaning and purpose in life apart from God. It gives voice to the preacher who carefully exposes the emptiness of paths like pleasure, wealth, and status. In recent weeks we've looked at the idols of pleasure and accumulation. Today we turn to the idol of status.
This one can be harder to spot. The line between excellence and envy is thin. Ecclesiastes 4 says, Then I saw that all toil and all skill and work come from a man's envy of his neighbor.
That's a striking thought. Our motivation may not be love of the work or calling. It's often the quiet urge to compete, to keep up, to be seen.
That's what status does. It whispers you're not enough unless others notice you. And without realizing it our careers, spending, and even our generosity can become ways of proving our worth. Keeping up with the Joneses isn't just a saying, it's a way of life for many. We compare houses, vacations, schools, and the pressure to match others can lead to debt, burnout, and dissatisfaction with what God has already provided. In our digital age the pressure is amplified. Social media showcases only the highlight reel, not the debt, exhaustion, or stress that often accompany it.
But we still scroll and wonder, why not me? Ecclesiastes answers that longing with honesty. In verse 8, the preacher describes someone who works tirelessly, builds wealth, but has no one to share it with. There is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches. It's a picture of success without joy, activity without peace, a full schedule, but an empty soul.
But then he offers a better way. In verse 6 we read, better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind. In other words, it's better to have less with peace than more with anxiety.
That's not laziness, it's wisdom. A life lived with margin, grounded in God's provision. This is the invitation Ecclesiastes extends, not to give up on excellence, but to anchor it in the right place. When our work flows from a love for God and a desire to serve others, it becomes a blessing, not a burden. It becomes worship. We don't need applause, we need peace. And in Christ, we already have it. His approval is not based on performance, it's based on grace. That frees us from striving to be seen and lets us rest in being known. Maybe that's where you are, tired, overextended, wondering what you're chasing. Ecclesiastes invites you to step off the treadmill of comparison.
You don't have to strive for identity, you already have it in Jesus. We see examples of this all the time. A professional sacrifices evenings and weekends to climb the corporate ladder only to feel lonely at the top. A family maxes out their budget to project an image, while tension quietly builds at home. These aren't just stories, they're warnings. They also echo Ecclesiastes' caution about what we're trading in our pursuit of more. Sometimes this isn't just about envy, it's about fear. Fear of being unseen, of being left behind. So we push harder, hoping success will quiet that fear.
But only God can give the peace we're looking for. Contentment doesn't mean quitting, it means redefining success. It means anchoring your worth in something that lasts. When you stop striving in vain, your ambition gets reoriented. Your work becomes more joyful, your giving becomes more meaningful. So today, ask yourself, who am I trying to impress?
What am I really chasing? If your hands are full but your heart is empty, Ecclesiastes invites you to trade performance for peace. True success isn't about being noticed or admired, it's about being faithful with what God has given you. And your worth? It's not something you have to earn or achieve. In Christ, you have nothing to prove because in Him, you are deeply loved, fully known, and eternally valued.
And if you want to dig deeper into these themes, we've created a new study just for you. It's called Wisdom Over Wealth, and it explores what scripture, especially the book of Ecclesiastes, has to say about money, work, and living for what really matters. This month, when you give $35 or more to support the ministry, we'll send it to you as our thanks. Just visit faithbuy.com slash wisdom.
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This institution is not federally insured. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. Whatever's on your mind today, give us a call. Here's our promise. Here's our hope is that we'd be able to allow you today to connect your money with your purpose. That is your purpose in Christ. You see, money is a good gift from God.
We're actually to enjoy it. And yes, we can use it to give it away and we can also use it to invest. We can use it to make a difference, a kingdom impact in the lives of our families and the people around us and even to the uttermost parts of the world. But we also recognize you're going to have questions along the way as you just navigate your financial life. And we want to do our best to give you a biblically grounded guidance and how to make those decisions. So if you've got questions today, go ahead and call right now, that number 800-525-7000. We've got lines open, although that won't last long. So call right now, get your question in the mix.
800-525-7000. Our team is standing by and we'd love to chat with you today. And we're going to dive into those questions here in just a moment. We do love to get to as many as we can.
And so we will certainly do that here in a moment. But in the news today, some Americans believe real estate and gold are the best long-term investments, but not all financial advisors agree. Listen to this new Gallup poll. 37% of Americans favor real estate and 23% favor gold, both higher than stocks, which dropped to just 16%.
Advisors say this is more about emotional comfort than sound strategy. These assets may feel tangible, but that's that can also make them illiquid and hard to manage. Of course, historically stocks are the clear winner. Over 30 years, the S&P 500 has returned more than 10%, 10.9% annually compared to 8.78% for real estate and 7.38% for gold. Stocks offer built-in diversification where you can spread risk across hundreds, if not thousands of companies. Advisors recommend that investors still drawn to real estate or gold should consider REITs. That's real estate investment trusts or ETFs, exchange traded funds. These provide market access while keeping assets relatively liquid. Gold ETFs can be especially useful because that avoids the security and insurance concerns of storing the physical gold. At the end of the day, wise investing isn't about what feels safe, it's about what's sound.
Here's what I would say. First of all, I love real estate. You got to make sure you're ready for a real estate purchase when you're taking physical possession.
Being a landlord is something that requires some work. It's not a passive investment by any means. Also, you can have concentration risk. If you have too much of your net worth tied up in one property, it does add to the risk, but that doesn't mean we should not invest in real estate.
I like it as long as we're ready for it and we've got the right assets to do it. For most people, having a properly diversified stock and bond portfolio as the primary investment vehicle, maybe where you're adding some gold, but probably no more than 10%, maybe a 5% physical gold allocation that you might think of as a forever allocation that you're going to just pass down. The other 5%, if you want it, maybe that's where you use the gold ETFs so that you can buy and sell it like a stock and you don't have to worry about taking physical possession. But the bulk of it is in your properly diversified stock and bond exposure with international and domestic stocks and small and large cap and then some international exposure as well. And then the rest in fixed income or bond type investments, high quality, maybe multiple durations. That really should be the core of your investment strategy, at least from a liquidity and a return standpoint, when we look historically, that's going to serve you the best.
And it's a passive investment, so you don't have to put as much time and attention in, although you may want an advisor to actually help you execute on it. So anyway, just some interesting data out that we're seeing in the news today that we thought you might benefit from. All right, let's dive into those phone calls. To Missouri, Jim, thanks for calling. Go ahead.
Yeah, thanks for taking my call. We've had some commercial solar companies inquire us about putting up a solar farm. And we were trying to find out if there's any pitfalls that we should be aware of.
We have about 40 acres of farmland that would be, that this would turn into a solar farm and just trying to find out more information. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think this is I'm glad you're you're taking your time to kind of do some due diligence here. That the developer has approached you on this. Is that right?
Yes. But we have spoken to our local attorney, there was like three different companies that are initially talking to us. And we're just really relying on our attorney's advice right now. He's working with them with the contract.
But I asked the attorney just the other day, I said, Is there anybody else here locally that has this happening? Because I would love to talk to them after the fact and say, Hey, is there anything that you guys missed? And that's, that's really what I'm looking for.
Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea. I mean, just kind of generally when these deals come up, I think it's always good to start with your own goals and priorities and really just clarifying your objectives. You know, what is it you want out of the deal? Are you looking for a lump sum payment?
Are you looking for long term income? Are you wanting to retain some control over the development? I mean, I think those are the kind of big overarching questions you need to answer first. And then depending on the answer to that, it will lead you into whether or not this is even something to consider. I think you also need to understand and assess your lands value.
And so getting an independent appraisal to understand the fair market value of your land is going to be an important part of this process. I think secondly, would be the due diligence on the developer. Who is this developer? What is their reputation? Do they have past projects that they've worked on?
What about financial stability? Can you find reviews or any past legal issues? Those should be pretty readily available with just a quick internet search. And then I think to your point, speaking with other landowners who have dealt with this developer, and perhaps that's where the internet can help also. I think in terms of hiring the professionals, that's going to be another key part of this. Engaging a real estate attorney and a financial advisor to kind of help you review the deal, the legal aspect, but also the financial aspect as well to make sure that your interests are protected. And then understanding the tax consequences of the deal as well. And so you'll probably want to talk to a CPA to be able to look at that. And then, you know, there's some other aspects of this. Of course, there's the deal structure itself.
How is that being put together? Is that coming to you as a lump sum or installment payments or a percentage of profits? You know, what is the fine print on this?
What is their plan for the land? You know, those types of things are always important to make sure that your interests are protected. And then obviously, at that point, we get into all the zoning and regulatory compliance. And that's where the attorneys will have to make sure that everything's done properly.
So, you know, I think at the end of the day, you always need to be prepared to walk away. You always need to have everything in writing. But starting with your goals, making sure you have competent professionals to walk alongside you to help you understand all the implications of this. And then to help you with the deal structure as well as the negotiation is probably the biggest things for you to consider. Okay.
All right. I'll definitely look into that product training goals and trying to find out. I would love, I wish they would create like a pool of people that have done this and then they could maybe perhaps on Facebook or something like that. I can research that as well. Absolutely.
Yeah, I think that would be time well spent, especially if you can find some activity from this developer with others so you can find out, you know, what their experience was like in working with this developer and what is their strength and longevity? How long have they been around? What kind of financial strength do they have? All those things will need to play into this, but we'll ask the Lord to give you some wisdom on this, Jim. We appreciate your call today, sir. Folks, we've got room for additional questions in the remainder of the broadcast.
Call right now, 800-525-7000. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
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That's the number to call 800-525-7000. Let's head to Mississippi. Hi, Allie. Go ahead. Hi. Thank you for taking my call.
Sure. I was a teacher and so I just felt like the Lord was leading me to stop. And so I have some money in the, like in the retirement fund and he's leading me to go to seminary.
So I was really praying about this and really struggling about what to do. Should I just leave the money in there or should I take it out and just pay off my debt? Like there's, I only have like 35,000 in there because I took some out to take care of my mom and she's passed away now. So I have 35 left in there and my debt is about 20,000. So I was just wondering, should I just leave it in there or take it out and pay off the debt for school?
Yeah. So a couple of questions. What type of debt do you have? My car, I have car and then some credit cards because I did a lot of my medical stuff onto my credit cards.
Got it. What are the balance? What do you own the car and then what's the total on the credit cards? The credit cards right now, about 11,000. And then my car, I've almost paid it off, it's like 5,000 left.
Yeah, about 4,200 left. Okay. About 4,000 on the car. All right. And you said you have about a 35,000 in a retirement. Do you have any liquid savings? I do not. I do not. Okay. All right.
And what is going to be your source of income in retirement? Well, I'm going to have to find a new job. So I haven't really found the job, you know, yet.
So that's my next thing that I need to, that I'm going to do. Okay. Very good. And what did you say about seminary? What were you thinking there?
The counseling program. Okay. All right. And what would the cost be on that?
It's going to be about 20,000 because I got some scholarships. Yeah. Okay. And how would you pay for that?
I got scholarships and then just they put you on payment plan. Okay. Yeah. Well, certainly I love the idea of going to seminary. I think I would probably, and certainly this is between you and the Lord. So ultimately you need to make this call. I would be just careful about getting, you know, moving too quickly without putting a more solid financial foundation under you. I would be hesitant, you know, for you to go into seminary, just kind of what I'm based on what I'm hearing about your financial situation at this point. Because, you know, right now we need to get out from under that credit card debt, but you're about to be in a position where you don't have any income. Now, obviously you can go look for another job and that's great.
And I'm delighted to hear that that's what you're thinking. That would be obviously a lot on top of seminary. The fact that you have no savings in the 11,000 in credit card debt with only 35,000 in retirement, and that's going to be costly money. So you're not going to have the 10% penalty to pull any portion of that 35,000 out, but it is all going to be taxable to you. So, you know, say you're in the 22% bracket, you know, that 35,000, you're going to have $7,700 of that if you pull the whole thing out, you know, just in federal taxes that you would owe.
So, you know, I'd much rather you leave that there. You quickly try to find another job, live modestly so we can focus on getting $1,000 in savings. And once you have $1,000 in savings, let's take every available dollar and go after those credit cards. In fact, I'd reach out to our friends at christiancreditcounselors.org. Let's let them help you get those interest rates down. And now, you know, by you getting another job, living modestly, really just, you know, living on the bare minimum to the best that you can. Hopefully, you know, a year from now, maybe a couple of years from now, all of a sudden the credit card debt is gone. We get that emergency fund up to three to six months expenses. And now, you know, we're in a much different position.
The only other thing that, you know, just causes me some concern is just that there's not anything else to speak of there in the way of assets. And so if you do get to a point where you're unable to work, you know, we don't really have anything to fall back on. Now, at some point, I'm assuming you'll have social security. And, you know, you could live on that.
And so I certainly understand that. But I think at least at this point, I don't feel great about you adding another $20,000 in expenses, on top of the fact that the the job situation is questionable right now. We've got this, you know, pretty significant credit card debt, which is probably at 20, 22% interest, and then no savings to speak of without a whole lot in the way of retirement assets. So I think if it were me, again, you need to pray through this and make this call.
I'd say, all right, I'm going to wait probably a couple of years on even considering seminary. Let me get the credit cards into a credit counseling program. Let me get that next job. And let me focus on trying to slowly build up that emergency fund while I'm paying off the credit cards.
And then once all that's taken care of, now we're starting to look to what God has next for you. Does that make sense, though? It does. It does.
Yes. Thank you so much. Yeah, you're welcome, Allie. Listen, I'm excited about what God has for you in this next season. I think we just got to, you know, follow the steps and just be really thoughtful and prayerful about considering kind of the timing of all of this as you're working hard to try to get a more solid financial foundation under you. God is your provider. I'm confident he will. But I think we need to use the finances as part of evidence of God's leading.
And I don't think he would lead you to do anything that's going to require you to take on more debt, you know, certainly not impoverish yourself as a result of it. So thanks for calling today. If we can assist you further, don't hesitate to reach out. Let's go to Illinois. Hi, Rose. Go ahead.
Thanks for taking my call. I've got a Medicaid question. So I've got a family member that has a fatal disease and she's, at this point, needs more care than what we can give her. She's living with my sister-in-law right now.
She has no assets. And we were thinking maybe we could put her or get her into Medicaid if possible. Who would be responsible for that bill? Well, what would generally happen is, you know, if you went to a Medicaid approved facility, you would not be responsible for it. So unless you were to, you know, take on financial responsibility, if Medicaid is not approved, the family is generally not legally responsible for the bill unless they've signed something agreeing to be.
So here's how it would work. Typically, you know, medical debt stays with the individual, not the family. Spouses in some states may be responsible under spousal responsibility laws, but if no assets exist, the provider would then, you know, write off the debt. They would try to recoup from the estate of the person. Medicaid would if they pay out, but if there's no assets there, then there's nothing for them to collect on. But, you know, I would think that the key here for you all as you pursue some of these Medicaid approved facilities would be just be careful that you don't, you know, take financial responsibility unless you intend to take on that liability.
So you just really want to be careful about those forms that you're signing when you, you know, move her into that facility. Does that make sense? Okay, it does. Thank you.
Thanks for your help. Yep, you're very welcome. Thanks, Rose. Now, folks, that's going to do it for us. So thankful for the folks that make this possible every day, Sandy and Devin and grateful for Jim Henry as well and everybody here at Faithfi. Hope you have a great rest of your day and come back and join us tomorrow. By the way, if you'd like to support Faithfi and the Faith and Finance broadcast, you can do that online quickly and securely at faithfi.com. Just click Give. Lord bless you. Bye-bye. Faith and Finance is provided by Faithfi and listeners like you.
