Every day, Faith Phi is making a profound difference in the lives of thousands of Christians. We help them integrate their faith and financial decisions, all for the glory of God. Our resources, including Bible studies, devotionals, the Faith and Finance program, articles, videos on FaithPhi.com, and the FaithPhi app, are instrumental in this transformative journey. We are so grateful for your faithful love and support of this ministry, and we'd like to invite you to partner with us in this work. Has God provided financial answers for you through this ministry?
If so, please consider becoming a monthly FaithPhi partner by visiting FaithPhi.com and clicking Give. That's faithfi.com and click Give. Long before we talk about money, Scripture asks a deeper question: What do we truly value? Hi, I'm Rob West. Jesus says in Matthew 6:21, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
He's not just giving financial advice, he's revealing a spiritual truth. Today, we're talking about treasure, the kind that can't be lost, stolen, or shaken. And then it's on to your phone calls at 800-525-7000. This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. If you step into any home, office, or corner of the marketplace, you'll find that every one of us is chasing something.
Some of us chase wealth, others chase freedom, comfort, reputation, or security. When you peel it back, the pursuit of treasure shows up in what we sacrifice for, dream about, and worry over. Money is particularly pervasive in this hunt. It offers the illusion of salvation. If you have enough, you'll feel safe, in control, prepared, and even untouchable.
And there's a paradox. The more we have, the more we fear losing. The more we accumulate, the more anxious we become about protecting it. What once promised freedom begins to feel like slavery. The problem isn't that money is bad.
Money is a good tool. The problem is that our hearts quietly ask money to do what only God can do, save, secure, and satisfy. This is why Jesus cares so deeply about treasure, not because He is opposed to wealth, but because wealth competes for what He alone deserves, our trust. Treasure reveals what we worship.
Now, many Christians assume the way out is simply to give more, and generosity is good it's celebrated in Scripture and frees us to participate in God's work. But Jesus doesn't treat giving as a formula, he treats it as a diagnosis. Generosity can reveal the heart, but it doesn't automatically transform it. Consider the day Jesus watched wealthy donors place large sums into the temple treasury. It must have looked impressive, but his attention drifted to a poor widow who dropped in two small coins, almost too insignificant to notice.
The wealthy gave without surrender, the widow gave without a safety net. The wealthy gave out a surplus, she gave out of trust. Her gift was worship, not performance, not philanthropy, not spiritual signaling. She was treasuring God above security, above optics, above fear. Jesus presses this theme further when he rebukes the Pharisees for tithing their herbs with mathematical precision while neglecting the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
Their giving was meticulous, but their hearts were misplaced. They treasured reputation more than righteousness. If the act of giving itself could break the love of money, the Pharisees would have been the freest people in Israel. But they weren't. Because freedom doesn't come from giving more, it comes from loving Christ most.
This is where treasure becomes spiritual. It's not just about budgets or portfolios, it's about worship. Wealth becomes dangerous not when we possess it, but when we believe it possesses the power to secure our future. Once control becomes our savior, anxiety becomes our companion. That's why Jesus warns that we cannot serve both God and money.
A divided heart is an enslaved heart. But Jesus doesn't just warn them. He invites. In Matthew 13, he describes a man who discovers a treasure hidden in a field and in his joy sells everything he has to buy it. He isn't reluctant or grieving the loss.
He isn't calculating cost. He's thrilled because for the first time he sees clearly what is most valuable. He isn't losing, he's gaining. That's what happens when Christ becomes our treasure. Everything else takes its proper place.
Wealth becomes a tool, not a master. Enjoyment becomes gratitude instead of entitlement. Generosity flows from joy rather than guilt. And stewardship becomes participation in God's work instead of anxiety about our own. But here's the twist to the treasure story.
While we were searching for treasure, the greatest treasure came searching for us. Jesus didn't merely tell stories about treasure, he became the treasure who gave everything to purchase us. Hebrews 12, 2 says, He endured the cross for the joy set before him. That joy was gaining us. The gospel isn't ultimately a call to surrender treasure, but to receive a greater one.
So the question is not whether you treasure something, you do. The question is who? Earthly treasures demand protection. Christ alone protects us. And when he becomes our treasure, we live with a confidence no market can shake and a wealth no thief can take.
I hope you think and pray about that today. All right, a quick break and then back with your phone calls. stick around. Money touches nearly every part of our lives, but scripture tells us it also reveals our hearts. Hi, I'm Rob West.
In my 21-day devotional Our Ultimate Treasure, I invite you on a journey of scripture, reflection, and prayer to rediscover what faithful stewardship really looks like, not just in your finances, but in your heart. You can get your copy of Our Ultimate Treasure at faithfy.com slash shop. That's faithfy.com/slash shop. Faith in Finance is grateful for support from Sound Mind Investing. If you have money in an investment account, you know sometimes the stock market can seem like a roller coaster.
But it's possible to enjoy both profit and peace of mind as a do-it-yourself investor, no matter what's happening in the market. A short video webinar about that is available at soundmindinvesting.org. Financial Wisdom for Living Well.
Soundmindinvesting.org. I'm grateful to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. Looking forward to taking your calls and questions today, which means the lines are open. We're ready for you.
Whatever those financial issues you're considering in your financial life today, we'd love to hear about them, help you think about them in light of biblical wisdom.
So, the only thing left is for you to call. Here's the number: 800-525-7000. Our team is standing by today, ready to take those calls. At the moment, there are some lines open, so this would be a great time for you to call. Again, that number: 800-525-7000.
Let's start in Indiana today. Kyle, go right ahead. Yes, thanks for taking my call. I'm hoping to get a little wisdom on discerning the difference between trying to build godly wealth and just satisfying my own greed. Yeah.
I love the question, and I love that you're really wanting to live in a God honoring way as you manage God's resources. Is there anything in particular that's driving it? Do you just have kind of an uneasiness and you're wrestling with the tension? Or is there anything else you might offer just in terms of what you're thinking? Yeah, I I started a construction business about a year and a half ago, and it's been going pretty well.
But of course, I want to continue to grow the business, but I'm wondering about the difference between trying to grow beyond my means of Or is it out of my own personal greed just to obtain more wealth and spend money however I see fit? You know, is there any sort of a limit to what God would consider To be Appropriate Hmm. Yeah. Yeah, that's a great question.
So, you know, I think ultimately this is a heart issue. A helpful test, I think, is to ask why you want the wealth. and what you plan to do with it. Because godly wealth views resources as gifts to a steward. We see that in Deuteronomy 8:18.
It all belongs to God, it's entrusted to our care to be found faithful with it. And I think the purpose is to provide, to give, to serve, to advance kingdom purposes. Ultimately, money is a tool.
Now, greed treats money as the ultimate treasure. And that seeks security, identity, or power apart from God. And we see that plainly called out in Luke 12, verse 15.
So, I think our motives, though, show up in our practices, the way we handle money. And the way we think about it.
So, you know, one way to look at it might be contentment versus restlessness.
So, godly stewardship can work diligently. yet rest in God's provision. Whereas greed you can never have enough when that's the the motivation. And then another area might be generosity versus withholding.
So godly wealth opens the hand, greed clings tightly. What about a temporal perspective versus an eternal?
Well, godly wealth asks how the resources can honor Christ. Greed focuses on self and the here and now. And then there's worship of God versus the worship of money. Jesus warned we can't serve both in Matthew 6.
So, here's what I would say to you: I think, you know, make this a matter of prayer. Pray that the Holy Spirit would search your heart. I think we all need to do this. I'm talking to myself as well. We need to invite accountability.
We need to examine our budgets because remember, you know, your spending is a clear indicator of your values. And so, as your level of income rises, does that mean your level of spending for your lifestyle is automatically rising with it? Maybe you need to guard against that. And so I think looking at your budget as a revealer of your priorities is really helpful. Ultimately, the goal isn't to fear wealth.
or idolize it, but to trust God is our true treasure. When wealth is received with gratitude, it's used with wisdom, it's released with generosity, it becomes a tool for love rather than an object of worship. And I think that's ultimately what we need to be able to decipher in our own hearts before the Lord is: what is my end game here? What is my definition of success? And ultimately, we need to redefine success.
Because remember, Matthew 16: for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Ultimately, we are rich not because of what we have in our bank accounts, but because of our position in Christ. You remember what Paul said? He said, I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus. My lord.
And so, when we ask that question that way, I think it redefines everything. And at the end of the day, success isn't about bigger barns or better resumes or a bigger small business. It's not about gain, it's becoming more like Christ each day. And the moment it becomes the end and not a means to an end to glorify God, then that's where it becomes problematic. But give me your thoughts on everything I shared.
I mean that sounds exactly like what I needed to hear. I've never had money. I hope to gain more money, right, just for my own security and to be able to take care of my family. But I guess my worry is really if I were To obtain, say this year, a boatload of money. You know what would that do to me?
I pray and I hope that it wouldn't change me for the worse, but I wonder if maybe God has not entrusted me with. wealth yet for that reason. Yeah. Yeah. Well, one of the ways you can guard against that is to set some financial finish lines up front.
You know, there's a great book that was written by my friend John Cortinez, who is on this program periodically. It's called God and Money: How We Discovered True Riches at Harvard Business School. And it's by John Cortinez and his good buddy Greg Ballmer. And they took a class on God and money in Harvard Business School, interestingly. And then they did a research project and interviewed people who were graduates around generosity and the role of money in their lives.
And it's just a fascinating read. But one of the things John and Greg did while they were still in school was they defined enough. They set financial finish lines in advance.
Now, John ended up going on into ministry. Greg went into finance. Greg has since sold several companies worth multi-millions of dollars. But he and John, both taking different paths, have always stuck to those finish lines that they set very early on. And, you know, I think that's one way to kind of guard ourselves against materialism.
And it just kind of frees us up.
Now, you may change that finish line over time. It doesn't mean that you have to kind of lock that down and never to be changed again. I think that could be a moving target. But there's something about going through that exercise to say, God, what lifestyle have you called me to? And above that, Lord, I'm going to commit that everything else just gets put back into circulation in your economy.
And boy, there's a few exercises like that that will kind of ground you as to the purpose of money, especially when you make that decision before God provides it, if he chooses to do that.
So here's what I'd love to do. I want to send you a copy of that book. It's called God and Money, How We Discovered True Riches in Harvard Business School by John Cortinez and Greg Ballmer. I'd love for you to read it. I think it'll be a real blessing to you.
And if you want to talk further about it after you do that, give me a call. Oh, I appreciate that very much. Thank you. All right. Absolutely, Kyle.
You enjoy that. Thanks for being on the program today.
Well, folks, we're headed to our next break. We've got room for a few more questions today.
So, if there's something on your mind financially, you'd love to make that decision with some wise counsel rooted in God's Word, not because it comes from me, but because we look to scripture to pull these principles out, well, this is the place for you. We'd love for you to call right now at 800-525-7000. We've got room for a few more questions in our final segment today. Again, that's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
Back with much more just around the corner. Stick around. Faith I is grateful for support from One Ascent. One Ascent believes that your values inspire why you invest and how they can inspire how you invest. One Ascent's goal is to provide solutions designed for every need and invest in businesses that bless the people and places God has made.
They want to help investors do well by doing good. To explore a new way of investing that aligns with your values, more information is available at onascent.com and by clicking analyze my investments. Is health insurance eating up your budget for 2026? If you're looking for ways to better steward your finances, consider this: Christian Healthcare Ministries is a health insurance alternative at half the cost. As a ministry, CHM allows you to share the burden of medical bills with other believers while also saving you money.
Join CHM today and ditch Traditional health insurance by visiting chministries.org/slash faithfi. That's chministries.org/slash faithfi. Hey, thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance.
Well, looking forward to taking your calls and questions today when you call 800-525-7000. Again, that number is 800-525-7000. We'd love to help you process whatever you're thinking about in your financial life today and help you do that in light of biblical wisdom. We do have some lines open. We'll have the entire remainder of the broadcast to address whatever is on your mind today.
So, the only thing we need is you. Again, that number 800-525-7000. Let's go to Florida. Hope I understand you're driving. How can I help you?
Hi, thank you for having me.
So I'll continue to you helping a lot of people. And I enjoy your show very much. Thank you so much. I have been a lot of faith. And I actually learned about Debt management on your radio.
So I got in touch with Trady. They can help me with my credit card. But they can't help me with the high interest loans that I have.
So I wanted to find out from you what How how big Can I get rid of that? Because every paycheck, they're taking at least 1,200, 1,500. Every tilt is. And that's killing me.
So how can I yeah.
So you have about $10,000, Hope. Is this credit card debt? No, this is high excess no, yeah.
Okay, so tell me more about that. Is it just a personal loan? Yeah, you know, like they can give you a line of credit or they can give you An instant zone.
So when I was trying to pay that one off with that one, I was holding and by the time I realized that, I mean so much. And I keep hearing you talking about this astronomical interest and I'm like, this is exactly the situation that I'm in. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, who is the lender on that?
Is it like a finance company or something? Yeah, there are a lot of my digital companies like, can I clean them?
Well, that's okay. It doesn't matter. Let's do this. Here at Faith5, we've worked for a long time with Christian credit counselors. I'd love to see if they might be able to help you.
They may not, like Trinity. And at that point, you'd have to look at, you know, if you've got a good income that's consistent and you've got a good credit score, you may be able to go to a local bank and see if you could kind of take out a new loan to replace this and get the interest rate down. You may or may not be able to do that. But the key is going to be, whether you do that or you just stay where you are, you know, the key is going to be really cutting back as many expenses as you can to free up margin every month and just try to attack that principle and just get that paid down as quick as you can and then get into a situation where you don't borrow again in the future. But I think it'd be worth reaching out to ChristianCreditCounselors.org, Hope, and see if they can help you.
Okay. All right, thank you. I've tried reaching out some of these creditors. They don't budge on their own like They don't Sable does do anything, so But hold up she says she can't. It's affecting my marriage, it's affecting everything now.
So, I'm so sorry. I know how challenging that is.
Well, let's start there. Go to ChristianCreditCounselors.org. Tell them we sent you, they'll take good care of you. And let's see if they can help you. And if they can't, call me back and we'll talk about the next step.
Thank you for calling. Lord bless you. Let's see. We're going to head to Illinois. Rebecca, how can I help?
Hi, yes. I am in a situation where my husband, who takes care of all of the finances, had a very uh bad fall. and was injured, let's see, in 2025. And that and my mom being widowed not too long ago. uh made me realize um I would have a lot to do to get up to speed on our family finances.
I was kind of in my mind trying to figure out, okay, where do where do I even start? Because You know, a lot of stuff is just online now. It's not like you get bills that you can, you know, bank on knowing what's coming in. Um where where do you go about Starting, do you start with the current the current budget and bills and investments, retirement, all of that is online and passworded. And what kind of advice could you give in that situation?
Yeah, very good. Yeah, you know, I think we need to find a way to pull all of that together.
So, if I understand correctly, you're just wanting to make sure that, you know, you are all on the same page so that, regardless, you know, of who passed away first, whether it was you or your husband, the other person knows where to go for all the access, you know, the various accounts, professionals, those types of things. Is that right? Yes, 'cause we still have children at home. Yeah, very good. Yeah, there's a resource that I can send to you.
It's called setting your financial house in order. And it's from our friends at Compass. And I think this could be helpful to you just in terms of giving you a roadmap to pull all of this together.
So if you stay on the line, our team will send that to you. It's called Setting Your House in Order. And I think that it might give you at least a framework to begin thinking about all the pieces and parts and kind of getting everything in one place, whether that's your investments, your advisors, healthcare decisions, kind of all of those things that are needed at that point. Does that sound like it would be helpful? Yes, that would give me somewhere to start.
I think that's the hard part is trying to figure out where do I even start?
So. Yes. Happy to do it. I think this could be exactly what you're looking for.
So you stay on the line, Rebecca, and we'll get that out to you, okay? Thank you so much. All right. Take care. Thanks for being on the program today.
Well, folks, before we head out today, let me just mention: this quarter, we have an incredible partnership with our friends at Cross International going on, where they're meeting critical needs around the world of impoverished children and families and communities. And they partner alongside local ministries. And the focus of our campaign is to transform the lives of 250 kids. How do we do that?
Well, a one-time gift of $62 helps a child with life-saving resources. We're talking food, water, education, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. And these kids are in Malawi, Uganda, and Zambia, where Cross International is on the ground.
Now, this is not a sponsorship ongoing. That $62 is what funds one child for a full year, providing these essential resources and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ.
So every gift matters. Again, our goal this quarter as we partner with Cross International is to fund and transform the lives of 250 kids. Every $62 given is going to help cover one of those kids for a year. And so we'd love for you to learn more by heading to faithfy.com slash cross. That's faithfi.com slash cross.
And here's why we do this. You know, one of the byproducts of living and managing money God's way is that we free up resources to be more generous. And so we want to connect you to incredible ministries doing amazing work in the name of Jesus. Again, that website, faithfy.com slash cross. Thanks for being along with us today.
Big thanks to my team today. Dev and Pat and Taylor couldn't do it without them. I'm grateful you were along with us as well. Hope you come back and join us tomorrow. We'll see you then.
Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithFi and listeners like you. Yeah.
