Money touches every part of our lives, our fears, our hopes, and the things that we trust most. That's why scripture speaks so often about it. In the devotional, Our Ultimate Treasure, Rob West guides you through a thoughtful 21-day journey into faithful stewardship, helping you move beyond budgets and balances to the heart behind your financial decisions. Each day includes scripture, reflection, and prayer, inviting you to see money not as something to cling to, but as a tool God uses to shape us, free us, and bless others. If you're looking for greater clarity, contentment, and purpose for how you steward what God has given you, this devotional is for you.
Our ultimate treasure, written by Rob West, is available now at faithfy.com/slash shop. Mm-hmm. Why do we give? Is it simply because scripture tells us to, or is something deeper meant to shape our generosity? Hi, I'm Rob West.
For many of us, giving can quietly become a calculation, an obligation, or even a source of pressure. But the Bible tells a far better story, one where generosity flows not from guilt or fear, but from grace. Today we'll explore why Christians give and how the gospel reshapes generosity from the inside out. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
We all want to be generous. Very few people would say, I don't want to give. Most of us genuinely desire to live with open hands and a willing heart. But if we're honest, generosity doesn't always come easily. We run the numbers, we think about what's coming next, we worry about whether our gift will really make a difference.
Sometimes we even reduce generosity to a math problem, something we'll do once everything else feels secure. And beneath all of those questions is a deeper one: why do we give in the first place? If giving feels like just another obligation, it will always feel heavy. But Scripture starts the conversation about giving somewhere much deeper than our budgets. It begins with our identity.
Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God. Before you ever give a dollar, before you ever decide how much or how often, remember this truth. you are already living on a gift. You've been given mercy when you deserved judgment, forgiveness when you were guilty, adoption when you were far from God. Daily bread, new life, a future secured in Christ.
Everything about your life as a believer begins with grace. And when grace takes root, generosity follows, because ultimately, giving is an overflow of grace. Paul expands on this in one of the most beautiful summaries of the Gospel when he writes, You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. That's not just poetic language, that's the pattern of Christian generosity. Jesus didn't cling to his position, his comfort, or his glory.
Philippians 2.7 tells us he emptied himself. He stepped into our poverty, spiritually, relationally, eternally, so that we could share in his riches. The gospel isn't just about forgiveness from sin. It's about transformation into a people who reflect the heart of the giver. That means our giving is never about earning God's favor.
It's never a way to prove our faith or secure his blessing. Scripture is clear. We love because he first loved us. And the same is true with generosity. We give because he first gave.
That's why Paul can say in 2 Corinthians 9, 7, each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Grace changes the tone of generosity. It moves giving from a place of pressure to privilege, from I have to to I get to. When grace is the motivation, giving is no longer about fear, fear of not having enough, fear of the future, fear of loss. Instead, generosity becomes an act of trust.
It becomes a declaration that God is our provider, not our bank account, that our security is anchored in Christ, not in our margins. And this kind of generosity isn't limited to people with large incomes or substantial assets. Every believer, regardless of their financial situation, has received the riches of Christ. which means every believer has something to give. Generosity can look like a shared meal, a word of encouragement, an open door, time invested in someone else, a financial gift that stretches us a bit.
A quiet sacrifice no one else sees, when grace takes root? Open hands follow. And that's the key. We don't give to become generous people. We give because God has already been generous with us.
Generosity doesn't begin with what we give, it begins with what we've received. When grace becomes the foundation, giving stops feeling like pressure and starts becoming a joy. That's really the heartbeat behind our ultimate treasure, the 21-day devotional I wrote to help you connect the gospel to everyday financial decisions, especially when it comes to generosity. It's designed to help you slow down, reflect on God's grace, and let that grace reshape how you manage money, time, and resources. It comes out in a few weeks, but you can go ahead and pre-order your copy today at faith5.com.
Just click shop or receive it automatically when you become a FaithFi partner. You can head to faithfy.com slash give to learn more. We'll be right back. As the leading advocate for the Christian financial industry, Kingdom Advisors serves the public by promoting the integration of a biblical worldview across every aspect of the financial services industry. And we serve a growing network of thousands of Christian financial professionals, equipping and empowering them to carry biblical financial wisdom to their clients, peers, and community.
For more information, visit kingdomadvisors.com. That's kingdomadvisors.com. We're grateful for support from Guidestone, whose diversified suite of investment solutions align with Christian values to create positive change in the world. More information is available at guidestonefunds.com slash faith. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal.
Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of Guidestone Funds before investing. They're distributed by Forside Funds Distributors LLC, which is not an advisory affiliate, a registered investment advisor, nor do they provide investment advice. Uh Hey, thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. We've got lines open.
We're ready for your questions: 800-525-7000. Call right now. All right, Minnesota. Christine, go ahead. Thank you so much for taking my call.
I appreciate it. You're welcome. I am newly widowed. My husband died in February. And I have I don't need to.
Thank you. Our home is for sale, and I'm living at the cabin. I know that the home is for sale for a large amount. I know that I will have some money to be wise with when it sells. And I'm looking for wisdom and guidance.
I have two children that are married, eight adult grandchildren, and three of them are married. four little great-grandchildren. And two of the grandchildren are in business for themselves. But I would like to use the money in many ways. I'm debt-free.
which is a rich blessing. God has been really good to my husband and I and to our family. And we have I have an accountant that we've had for quite a while. Um he doesn't necessarily give investment advice. I've talked with bankers that we've worked with And um I feel like we've been getting good advice, but this is a little more money than I have got in the bank right now.
So um What would you do? Yeah, that's really helpful, Christine.
Well, I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's passing. And, you know, I appreciate you just honoring the Lord and calling out His faithfulness to you and your husband over the years and to your family. And what a privilege to continue to steward what He's entrusted to you in this next season and develop a vision for what God has for you in the future that certainly includes the resources that He has provided and is continuing to provide. I'd love to just kind of run through, if you don't mind quickly, kind of where you're at financially and talk about kind of where the proceeds of this sale might fit into that. And so, what do you do?
Yes. Yeah. I have a C D a a fairly large C D, o over a hundred thousand coming due. And then I have another smaller C D that will be due. And it's Thirty thousand, I believe.
And that will get me through. Our home is. Let me stay on the savings for a second. Do you have any liquid savings right now that's not tied up in the C D? Yes.
Um, I have about eleven thousand.
Okay, great. And then what are your income sources? My Social Security.
Okay. And is that enough for you to live on? And do you have anything left over at the end of the month? It's close. I have about it's a little more than nineteen hundred, and I try to just be careful.
I don't have expenses other than everyday expenses. Got it. Yep. And is this the survivor's benefit, the 1900? Yes.
Okay. And you said you're debt-free, and that's great.
Now you're selling a home. What are you going to receive in the proceeds of that sale?
Well, it's for sale $1,075,000.
Okay. And do you owe and you don't owe anything on it? No.
Okay, and where are you headed after you sell it? I'm living at our cabin, which is um paid for too. And it's where I'm planning to live. It's close to Our daughter and her five children, and a granddaughter and her little family.
So I love that. That's great. And so you're going to have roughly a million dollars that you could invest on a conservative basis, whether that's in a CD, more CDs or government treasuries or money market or a very conservative stock and bond portfolio if you wanted to. But it sounds like, based on your modest living, you've got more than you're going to need. And so are you wanting just to try to safely generate some income on this?
Is that your primary objective? Would you like to start giving some of it away, either to ministry or charity or to the kids? What is your hope and plan with this million dollars at this point?
Well, all of the above. I would like to give to a couple of ministries. And um two our kids who have been A big help. And then I would like to have a little more income. Yeah, great.
Well, the good news is you should be absolutely able to do that. I mean, let's say, and I'm not trying to put a number here, but let's say after expenses, you cleared $900,000. I mean, you could easily pull 4% a year, and you should be able to maintain the $900,000 for the rest of your life and still pull 4% a year. That would be another $3,000 a month, and it doesn't sound like you'd need that much. And so that would potentially allow you to do even more giving.
But, you know, I think your next step is probably to connect with a certified kingdom advisor there in Minnesota, somebody who is an advisor who could help you think through these issues, help you discover even some of your passions around the giving that you'd like to do and develop a vision for that, both to ministries as well as to your kids and develop a plan for that. Also, help you make sure your estate plan is up to date. If any documents need to be revisited after your husband's passing, that that could be done. Done. I think that really is the place to go from here.
And, you know, to find a certified kingdom advisor there in Minnesota, I'd head to findacka.com. That's findacaka.com. You could do a zip code search and maybe interview two or three CKAs in the area, find the one that's the best fit. But the good news is. It sounds like you're in great shape.
God has provided for you. And now we just need a plan to go alongside the passions and desires that He's given you. And I'm confident you're going to be a wonderful steward of these resources. I'd also like to send you a copy of. Issue three of our magazine, Faithful Steward.
There's a wonderful, it's actually a beautiful article written by Valerie Neff Hogan. Her mom and Valerie started a ministry called Widow Connection for Widows in this situation. She's an attorney, but she's also been involved with the National Christian Foundation. But she wrote an article in there called Financial Next Steps After Losing a Spouse. And it walks you through your first 10 steps.
And then it also helps you determine which one of the steps is to put a personal board of directors in place. And she defines what that is. And she even tells you how to determine who those people should be or who, you know, how to select them. But I think this article will be a wonderful encouragement to you. And so I'm going to have my team send it to you.
But how does all that sound, Christine? I'd love it. Thank you. Thank you very much.
So I think you're on the right track. Be encouraged. God has provided. He's there and is going to walk with you. I'm confident he has a wonderful plan and purpose for this next season of your life.
And I'm going to send you this magazine so you stay on the line. And then to find an advisor in your area, just go to findacka.com. Thanks for your call today.
Well, a quick break. When we come back, much more here on Faith and Finance. We help you find God's heart as it relates to your money management. Much more to come straight ahead. I want to say a big thanks to my team today.
Amazing group of people that serve us every day here at Faith and Finance.
So thankful for everybody here at Faith Find. Grateful for Tahira and Amy and Lisa and Anthony and everybody else that puts in great work to bring you this broadcast each day. Stay with us. We'll be right back. We work, we earn, we save.
But is that all there is? The book of Ecclesiastes gives us an entirely new perspective on money that impacts our day-to-day lives. Faith Phi's study, Wisdom Over Wealth: 12 Lessons from Ecclesiastes on Money, unpacks life-changing biblical truths about wealth, work, and contentment. This resource will help you grow in how you handle wealth with wisdom and deepen your trust in God. Purchase your copy today or place a bulk order at faith5.com/slash shop.
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Soundmindinvesting.org. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. Here in our final segment today, we're going to get to as many calls as we can. We have some great questions lined up here. Let's go to Alabama.
Hi, Susie. How can I help? Hi, yes. My boyfriend is 62 and he took an early retirement construction work. just kind of wears a body down after a while.
So he took an early retirement and he's got profit sharing that he will be getting in about two more weeks. And he has no plans other than just get this money and just put it in his checking account or keep it in his man cave or. In the house or something. And I'm trying to get him to do something with the money, but I I don't know how, you know, to go about getting anything lined up for him or or what to tell him and He just can't just do that with his money. Sure.
Well, you know, I think we've got to take a step back because, you know, the way we handle money is ultimately symptomatic of our hearts. And what we value and where we place our trust. And so I think, you know, whenever we're setting financial goals, it's really important to start even before we start thinking about the specific goals with our values as Christ followers and say, okay, what's most important to us? Where is God taking us as he enters this fourth quarter of life or this next season? What is it that he feels like God is calling him to do?
He's going to have a little bit more time. God created us to be workers and to be productive with our hands. That might mean a change because, as you said, being in construction can take a toll on your body, but it also means he has incredible wisdom and experience to share with others and to be in community and to be one of those elders at the city gate that we see in scripture. And so I think, you know, having a vision for this next season is really important. And then kind of marrying the resources, the financial resources to that vision, recognizing you and I.
And your boyfriend are all stewards of God's money. It all belongs to him. It doesn't belong to us. It doesn't matter if it's coming to him by way of a profit-sharing plan or social security. It's all God's, 100% of it.
And so our charge is to be found faithful. And so perhaps it's a conversation. He may or may not be willing to engage you in this, but perhaps it's a conversation that starts with: hey, let's talk about what this next season is going to look like. And let's talk about how this money that's coming in can be a tool to accomplish that. And to the extent it's unnecessary because he has other means by which to cover lifestyle spending, maybe the thing to do is to, at the very least, put it aside in a high-yield savings account to earn some interest.
Maybe it's to invest it and take a longer-term perspective because even at 62, he needs to be thinking 30 years down the road in terms of how long this money needs to last. And that means in order to offset inflation, which we're all very well aware of lately. In order to offset inflation, we've got to have the money growing. And it's not going to grow, you know, sitting in his checking account or under his mattress.
So, you know, I think perhaps it's the vision and value side first, talking about his faith and the role we have as stewards and where God's leading him in this next season. And then there's the practical, pragmatic side, which is, you know what, that money in a coffee can or under the mattress is not going to offset inflation, means it's losing value every month due to inflation. And therefore, maybe we ought to get it working for us. And perhaps those with some prayer ahead of time could be the beginning of a conversation that would ultimately cause him to say, you know what, maybe you're right. Maybe we need to do something with this.
And perhaps better yet, he'd be willing to connect with a certified kingdom advisor there in Alabama who, as a third party, not you, but as a third party professional, could, you know, give you all some things to think about, give him some things to think about in terms of how this might be managed well. Think about that and let's. What the Lord does as you engage your boyfriend. We appreciate your call today, Susie. I hope that helps.
All right, let's head to Georgia. Terry, how can I help? Hey, Rob, thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it. Appreciate the show.
Thank you. Appreciate you. My daughter, she's a teacher. She's got a pension. She's still got a number of years to work, but we were looking at some investments for her future retirement.
she has about twenty five C in a high yield savings.
Well, I was looking at maybe opening her a raw power rate through Schwab or Fidelity or something of that nature. Would that be the best route since he has quite a number of years to work? Or is there other investments that would potentially I want to be able to mitigate the risk, but yet I still want her to be able to gain a pretty good return. Yeah, yeah, no, that's great. You know, I think, first of all, that savings account is doing an important job, and you want to keep three to six months of expenses in that high-yield savings for emergencies.
You know, so maybe that's $15,000 or $20,000. Perhaps she's got a little bit more than she needs in that. And the extra beyond what we'll call emergency savings could be ideal for that Roth IRA contribution each year where she's investing for the long term.
So maybe she keeps $15,000 to $18,000 in savings, moves $7,000 per year into the Roth, and then repeat that annually until the excess cash is invested or with additional contributions out of future savings. It makes sense to have that even alongside the pension. That teacher's pension is going to be a key part of her retirement because that'll provide her some guaranteed income, but they're usually taxable and may not keep up with. Inflation. And the beautiful part about the Roth IRA alongside it is that Roth is going to grow tax-free.
It's going to give her flexibility. There's never going to be any required minimum distribution.
So if she doesn't need it, she can let it grow. And it's a hedge against higher future tax rates under a different administration well down the road where she would be able to tap into these funds without paying any tax because it's completely tax-free growth.
So the combination of the pension plus the Roth is a really strong combination.
Now, in terms of what to invest in inside that Roth, let's say you were to go with your suggestion on Fidelity and I don't have any issue there. I'd probably just use a broad U.S. stock index, maybe an international fund index. You know, she's got a long time horizon of three to four decades here, so she can be growth-oriented. And one low-cost option that would give her kind of this broad market.
Coverage would be through the Schwab Intelligent portfolios. It's basically like Fidelity, Schwab is one of the other discount brokerages, and they have a robo-advisor that they call the Schwab Intelligent portfolios. They're low cost. You answer some questions, it would automatically build the portfolio for her. And then every time she makes a contribution, let's say she wants to put in 1 12th of 7,000 a year, so about $585 a month.
It would automatically reinvest it, and there wouldn't be any expenses related to that.
So, you know, that could be a great option for. But I think the bottom line is: I like the direction you're headed.
Okay. Well, I appreciate your time. Thank you for taking my call. All right, Lord bless you. We appreciate your call today as well, Terry.
Call anytime.
Well, folks, that's going to do it for us.
So glad to be along with you today. Can't wait to continue to serve you this year. We have a lot in store, a lot of really exciting things coming here at Faith Phi to help you live as a wise and faithful steward. Listen, I couldn't do this without my amazing team today: Tahira, Taylor, Lisa, Dan, and everybody here at Faith Phi. Enjoy the rest of your day.
We'll see you next time. Faith in Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.
