Have you ever wished someone could take the stress and guesswork out of budgeting? That's exactly what the FaithFi app was built for. FaithFi uses your real spending history to build a personalized plan from day one. And as you categorize transactions, it learns your patterns, automatically simplifying future budgeting so you spend less time managing and more time living. But the FaithFi app doesn't stop with the numbers.
Each daily, weekly, and monthly rhythm invites you to engage scripture, reflect on God's provision, and connect your financial decisions with your faith. And it's because FaithFi integrates articles, studies, devotionals, podcasts, and community support, you're never walking this journey alone. Try FaithFy Pro Free for 30 days, and for a limited time, get 25% off a pro subscription at faithfy.com/slash app. Why wait to give when the impact could start today? Hi, I'm Rob West.
It's easy to assume generosity will grow over time after we've earned more, saved more, or reached a certain level of financial security. But what if waiting causes us to miss something greater? Today, Cody Hobelman joins us to talk about the impact of giving now, not later. And then it's onto your calls at 800-525-7000. This is Faith in Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.
Well, it's always a treat to welcome my friend Cody Hobelman back to the program. He's a certified financial planner, a certified kingdom advisor, and a trusted contributor to our quarterly publication, Faithful Steward. Cody also contributed, along with his brother Keelan, to our brand new FaithFi field guide, How Much Money Is Enough. Together, they're the founders of the Finish Line Pledge, where they help awaken ordinary givers to lives of deeper joy, freedom, and adventure through setting a financial finish line. Cody, great to have you back with us.
Thanks, Rob. It's always great to be here. Cody, in your latest article for Faithful Steward, you open with a really honest reflection that early on you thought the goal was to become wealthy so you could give more away later. But I know over time God began to reshape that perspective. Share a bit about that with us.
Yeah, Rob, my giving journey really started with a step of obedience by giving 10% of my income to my local church. And God just began to reveal all kinds of things to me as I stepped into that. But I really thought that the best thing that I could do for the kingdom was to grow a huge pot of money that I accumulated so that I could give a lot later once I had a lot of money. But through hearing stories of radically generous givers, God started to challenge that assumption in my life, and I started to wonder: what am I missing? By not giving more today.
Yeah, and that's the key idea behind this article.
Now, you break it down by three types of givers: heart, soul, and head. I want to begin with heart givers, and I want to remind us of Acts 20:35, where it says it is more blessed to give than to receive. How does that truth shape our desire to give now rather than simply planning to give later?
Well, I think this verse is simply true. The act of giving the experience of living generously does create a lot of joy in our lives. And that can be very compelling, especially for new givers who are experiencing that for the first time. It makes you want to give more and more frequently. And so, giving to others creates a fulfillment in our lives that's really hard to replicate by spending or saving.
And givers typically don't want to put off that joy, they want to experience it right now. Yeah, that's right. And it's not something only for us. It's something we get to share with others, right? That's absolutely right.
As we give, we make relationships with people and organizations, and we get to step into shared purpose. And that can be a very catalytic force that just invites us deeper into generosity. And that can help shape our future giving decisions. We get better at giving by giving together. And so, as you step into that, it just doesn't make sense to put off those opportunities when they're available right now.
Yeah, that's exactly right. You also point out in the article, Cody, that generosity doesn't stop with the initial gift. There's a multiplication factor in the lives of others, right? That's exactly right. Just like I shared in my own story, hearing other people's stories was such a powerful force in inviting me into deeper generosity.
And so we get to pass that along. We get to share our stories with others. And giving is simply contagious. When you see the joy created in a generous person, it makes you wonder: what do they have that I'm missing? Yeah.
So that's the heart givers. I want you to tee up before the first break this next type of giver that you call a soul giver, those who see generosity as a part of their spiritual formation. Share that with us. Absolutely.
Soul givers are leaning into the personal formation, just like you said, because giving requires us to trust God and to surrender some of what we believe that we earned. And so that process. Fundamentally transforms us, especially when we just start giving. That first step is often the biggest hurdle because it requires real faith to give at all. But over time, it starts to feel more natural and it really gives us life.
and it strengthens our faith and our dependence on God. We're talking about giving now, not later, with Cody Hobelman. We're going to take a break. When we come back, we'll talk about that spiritual formation and how giving can deepen our walk. Also, givers who give around strategy, head givers, and what we need to know about that type of giving.
More to come with Cody Hobelman right after this. I was in ministry full-time and I was always looking for a way to integrate my faith with this new industry around money and finances. This is Mark. He is a Certified Kingdom Advisor. As a CKA, one of the best things I offer my clients is trust in knowing that they're working with a professional that understands their values.
And I think in all of the different challenges that clients go through, if we can go back to trusting in God, then He'll make the path straight. You can find an advisor like Mark at findaceka.com. 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 faithfind. That's chministries.org slash faith fi. Yeah.
Why wait to give when the impact could start today? We're talking about giving now, not later, with Cody Hobleman. Cody is a certified kingdom advisor. He's also the founder, along with his brother Keelan, of the Finishline Pledge, where they help awaken ordinary givers to lives of deeper joy, freedom, and adventure through setting a financial finish line. You can check it out at finishlinepledge.com.
We've been talking about three types of givers as we consider how to give now and not later. We were talking about givers that lead with the heart, those that are really leaning into spiritual formation through soul giving, and then head givers. We'll get to that in a moment, giving with a strategy and impact at the heart of what they're doing. Cody, as we talk about these soul givers, talk about what happens in our walk with the Lord and how this really can be a part of spiritual formation. we give.
Yeah, giving can be compared to building a muscle. That first time you get in the gym. There's some obstacles to overcome mentally and physically. And so once we make that first gift. We often have already gotten over that biggest hurdle, like I said earlier.
But as we give consistently, we build confidence and it helps us to be more obedient, to listen for the voice of the spirit and to obey it without hesitation. And over time, giving really becomes an overflow from abundance rather than feeling like such a sacrifice of what we've already earned. I love that you described it like building a muscle, because when generosity becomes a regular practice, it deepens our walk and creates more intimacy with the Lord, doesn't it? That's exactly right. And I truly believe that generosity is a powerful tool that helps us to align our hearts.
With God's priorities. And that happens through reading scripture, through prayer, through giving with others. And over time, that will loosen our grip on money and our desire to control things that we really can't control in our lives. And that starts to shift our identity away from what we have and what we can earn and what we can do. And instead, our identity can be rooted in who we trust.
And that whole process draws us closer to God as we trust Him more. And so, giving is really a way that we can build deeper intimacy that accumulation of resources never can. Yeah, that's right. So, we've talked about heart givers, we've talked about soul givers. I want to talk about the third category that you talk about in your article in Faithful Steward, and that is head givers, those who think carefully about strategy and stewardship and even the impact of their giving.
So, from a practical standpoint, Cody, why does giving now often make more sense than waiting until later? Yeah, when we give now, we get to build off of the experience. We can see the results. Has there been a good harvest from the seeds that we sowed long ago? And that can help inform where we would sow the next seeds.
If we want to see a larger harvest, It's the experience of Planting seeds year after year that allows us to see better results in the future. Yeah.
Yes, as a financial planner, we talk a lot about this idea of compound interest and what a powerful force it is. But you make a distinction in the article between compound interest and compound impact.
So I'd love for you to describe that a bit and how that relates to giving now, not later. I think about the impact of a life change today. compared to a dollar growing with the rate of compound interest. It's just impossible to compare the two. God can do so much with so little.
And so, whatever we can imagine our money can grow into, God can do immeasurably more. With our step of obedience. And so if we wait. To build more financial resources using the means that we are aware of. We might be delaying incredible impact that God could do with our faithfulness.
Yeah.
There's also a danger in holding resources too tightly or too long. I know in Matthew 6:19 through 21, Jesus warns us not to store up treasures on earth. Where they can fade, decay, or be lost.
So, how should we think about that warning, Cody, and allow that to shape the way we think about our giving? Many of us know this from our own experiences: that money comes and money goes, and we can't always predict. What's going to happen in the future? And so we're not guaranteed to actually have those resources in the future, even if we intended to give them away and to invest those towards impact. Markets change, things happen in our lives, and so giving now.
Turns temporary resources into eternal impact that lasts beyond our lifetime. And when we delay our giving, it increases the risk that we're going to miss an opportunity. Yeah, that's right. And as Ron Blue has taught us for a long time, do your given while you're living so you're knowing where it's going. And there's a practical side of that as well.
But I love that you're highlighting the eternal impact piece of this. Perhaps the most sobering component of this is that you remind us in the article that none of us is guaranteed tomorrow. And so how do we think about that reality and allow that to shape our generosity? Yeah, it's not something that we love to talk about, but we have to face the truth that. We observe it in life, and scripture obviously reinforces the idea that we're not guaranteed tomorrow.
All those resources that we've built up with the best of intentions, we have to put those in motion. We have to deploy those resources because. We may not get a chance if we wait too long. Yeah.
You know, I love the finish line, and we talked about your role in contributing to our new field guide and the ministry finish line pledge that you and Keelan started. I'd love for you to take just a moment and talk about how a lifestyle and what we call a lifetime finish line can allow you to accelerate the giving right now in a way that we've talked about. Yeah, Rob, a lifestyle finish line simply flips the question. From how much should I give to how much should I keep? And when we can define how much is enough.
It frees up all kinds of possibilities in our minds and it drives us to ask God, what would you have me do with your resources that I'm not going to consume and spend on myself? And that just opens up an incredible conversation with God that leads us into. All kinds of amazing adventures. And likewise, that lifetime finish line of how much is an appropriate amount to accumulate throughout life. It opens up the same possibilities.
If we understand how much is enough, Then we can start to dream with God about how to deploy his resources. That's well said. Godi, we're about out of time. For the person who's listening today who keeps waiting for the quote right time to become more generous, what encouragement would you leave them with? I think for each of us, there is a step that we can take this week.
And you can start small. It doesn't have to be this extravagant, dramatic act. But the most important thing is to start now and just watch how God will use that step of faith to grow you and to multiply the impact. Yeah, that's right. I'm so encouraged by so many calls I'm getting from people saying, Listen, I'm going to die in many cases with millions of dollars in my trust, let's say.
And why shouldn't I be giving some of that away right now? And I would say, Amen. Let's get that into the kingdom, compounding for all eternity. Folks, don't wait to be generous. As Cody has shared with us, giving shapes your heart, it deepens your faith, it multiplies kingdom impact in ways delayed generosity never can.
Cody, thanks for your time today. Thanks so much, Rob. It's been a pleasure. Our guest today has been Cody Hobelman, Certified Kingdom Advisor and founder of the Finish Line Pledge. Cody wrote on this topic in the latest issue of Faithful Steward magazine, available exclusively to FaithFi partners who support the ministry at $35 a month or $400 a year.
You can learn more at faithfy.com/slash give. Back with your questions after this. Stick around. Managing money isn't just a financial decision, it's a discipleship journey. And the FaithFi app is the only app built to guide both your money and your heart.
With meaningful check-ins, automated budgeting, personalized insights, and biblical wisdom woven into every step. FaithFi helps you build habits that last. Join more than 70,000 believers pursuing clarity and peace as faithful stewards. Start your 30-day free trial today at faithfy.com slash app. Faith in Finance is thankful for support from The Good Investor, a book by Robin John.
In his book, Robin shares his journey from an immigrant child struggling in school to co-founder and CEO of Eventide Asset Management, a faith-based investment firm. This Faith and Work memoir seeks to inspire readers to view their work and investments as opportunities to honor God and bring blessing to the world. More information is available at goodinvestor.com. That's goodinvestor.com. Helping you apply God's wisdom to your financial decisions.
This is Faith in Finance. Let's hit right to the phones. Harold is in Texas. Go ahead, sir. I appreciate you taking my call.
Thank you very much. Sure. Simply put, in this day and age, the Bible calls for men to go out and provide. What is A minimum amount For a family for them to be able to provide? Is it $20,000 a year?
Is it $10,000 a year? What's the minimum we should encourage men to go out and be like, okay, you need to, at least for a family in this day and age, make a minimum of this amount of money. You know, what target or ambition should we be giving our young men here? Yeah, yeah, it's a great question. You know, I think there's so many factors that play into this.
You know, you can look at it, you know, as a target income, although there's not a single magic number because it really depends heavily on location, any debt they're bringing into the equation, the family size, the lifestyle. You know, I think, you know, broadly speaking, for a family today, you know, even $50,000, I think, can provide some stability if spending is disciplined. But, you know, many families don't begin to feel any kind of meaningful breathing. room until somewhere quite a bit even above that. I think at the beginning of this conversation, you really need to start with maybe even before a specific dollar amount, a better question, which is what kind of work allows me to provide faithfully for my family?
Use my gifts well. and grow over time.
Now, certainly incomes matters. I think scripture speaks certainly about the importance of diligence and planning and providing for one's household. And, you know, I think chasing a number alone can lead people into careers that might pay well, yet leave them burned out or even absent from family life or spiritually drained. And so I would say, you know, some things to encourage a young man to focus on would be. What does it look like to develop skills that are valuable and adaptable, especially in our changing economy?
Pursuing work with long-term growth potential, not just immediate income? Staying teachable and dependable and hardworking. I think those traits matter enormously over time. Avoiding unnecessary debt that limits future flexibility. And then the key is at every stage in the journey, living below your means.
So, that early financial pressure doesn't control every career decision later. And I think what ultimately it's going to come down to is building a life where income supports your family and values, not one where your family is sacrificed to endlessly change or chase more income.
So, a young man who's steadily developing wisdom and character and discipline and useful skills will often see his earning potential grow naturally over time. And in many cases, consistency and stewardship matter far more than trying to hit some arbitrary financial number as quickly as possible. But let me stop there and just get your thoughts on all that. I completely agree. I really do.
That growth over time makes a lot of sense. And the stewardship, everything, I really agree with everything you just said. I just usually, you know, a bearings is, I guess, sometimes is what people look for is like, yeah, I understand the ball is going to be constantly moving sometimes, depending on the situation. But I guess we just need to get like our bearings here. We need to figure out what direction we need to head in, you know, with some kind of a goal to achieve.
And once you achieve that goal, moving on to the next goal, but within the specifications of what you just said. Yeah, very good. I want to send you a book that was really powerful for me in my early journey. It's largely what shaped my professional work being at the intersection of faith and finance. It's a book by my friend and one of my personal mentors, Ron Blue.
He wrote a book early in his journey called Master Your Money. There's been nearly a million copies sold. And I think it'll be a blessing to you. In fact, it was just recently revised and updated. And we'd love to send you a copy of it.
It's going to give him the biblical principles of money. Management. It's going to help him to think about creating a long-term financial plan that works, how to avoid the common financial mistakes, how to save and invest and give wisely.
So I'll pass this on to you, Harold, as our gift to you, and you can pass it on to this young man, okay?
Okay, thank you very much. Happy to do it. Stay on the line. Our team will get your information. We'll get Master Your Money right out to you.
God bless you. Let's go to Louisiana. Sharon, how can I help? Hi, thank you. I am trying to give some advice.
Through prayer for a friend. who has forty plus loan debt Yeah. He has small investments, and I was one at first I was thinking he needed a CKA, but now I think he must need a Christian credit counselor. He has a small business and the business is dropping off, I guess, because of the economy. And he's just very overwhelmed.
So I've just been praying and trying to give words in due season.
So do you think I should advise him to find a Christian credit counselor? Yeah, I think you're on the right track here, and thank you for being a regular listener. You're referencing all the tools I mention regularly, so I'm grateful for you being a a faithful listener. Sharon, you mentioned about $40,000 in loans. Is this largely credit card debt?
Um I think one is not that I just kind of heard about. It was some type of loan he got, and then he hasn't been able to pay on it in quite a while.
Okay. All right. Yeah, I think Christian Credit Counselors is going to be the place to start. And it's definitely not a certified kingdom advisor. They're going to be more in the area of, you know, fee-based financial planning and wealth management and investment advice.
And I think at this point, he needs to kind of stabilize the situation, get on a good track to get that debt paid off completely and get the budget back on track so that he's got a solid financial foundation under him. He's got an emergency fund. He's living within his means. And so that once the debt's paid off, we don't ever get back there. And now we can start looking to building wealth for the future through automated systematic investments.
But that's not for now. That's for later.
So yeah, the place to go here, Sharon, is faithfi.com/slash CCC. That's faithfi.com slash CCC, which stands for Christian Credit Counselors. They're going to run through and help him set up a budget. They're going to analyze the debt. They're going to figure out how much of a reduction in interest rate they can get.
The credit cards are going to, and the loans are going to stay right where they already are. They're just going to be able to slide them over into the credit counseling program because he's working through Christian Credit Counselors. You can't do that on your own. And if that works out, that's going to help him pay this off typically between three and five years, which is usually 80% faster than if you try to go it alone.
So, again, that website, faithfy.com/slash CCC. Sharon, you sound like a wonderful friend. And if I can help further along the way, don't hesitate to reach out. May God bless you. Hey, big thanks to my team today: Devin, Patty, Taylor, and everybody here at Faith Phy.
Have a great day. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye. Faith in Finance is provided by FaithFi and listeners like you.
