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 faithfi.com slash shop. If there's one word that defines our culture, it's more. More upgrades, more comfort, more square footage. Yet with all that more, so many of us feel less satisfied than ever. Hi, I'm Rob West.
That's because contentment doesn't come from what's next. It's shaped in the heart right where we are. Today, we're talking about choosing contentment, not as something accidental, but something scripture says we can learn. And then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.
Let's be honest, we're all tempted to believe the next purchase, promotion, milestone, or change will finally make us feel settled. But this longing for just a little more is as old as humanity itself. Ecclesiastes tells us that King Solomon denied himself nothing his eyes desired, yet he concluded it was all meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Even the richest man in the ancient world discovered that satisfaction cannot be bought, achieved, or accumulated. It slips through our fingers the moment we reach for it.
Paul understood this too. In Philippians 4.11, he writes, I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Notice that word learned. Contentment isn't natural. It doesn't come from circumstances.
It's cultivated through walking with Christ. And Paul explains the secret to this kind of contentment. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That verse isn't about achieving goals or maximizing performance. it's about persevering with trust.
Paul wrote those words from prison, not from a moment of victory. He was saying, Christ gives me strength to rest, to trust, and to be content, whether I have plenty or very little. Contentment is the fruit of relationship with Jesus. It's not found in having everything. It's found in knowing the one who is everything.
As I write in my devotional, Our Ultimate Treasure, contentment begins with recognizing we have a shepherd who provides. The Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need. Contentment starts with identity. We are his sheep.
We live under his watch. We live within his provision. And because of that, we have enough. Hebrews 13, 5 adds another beautiful layer. Be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
In other words, the root of contentment is God's presence, not our possessions. If he is with us, then we're never without what we truly need. But the devotional highlights something else surprising and incredibly practical. Gratitude is the engine of contentment. Wherever gratitude grows, contentment thrives.
When we pause to say thank you, the heart shifts from craving what's next to appreciating what's now, from longing for more to recognizing what God has already given, from scarcity to sufficiency. When we leave everything in God's hands, we eventually start seeing God's hand in everything.
So how do we begin choosing contentment?
Well, it can be as simple as keeping a gratitude journal, writing down three blessings each morning or evening, not grand things, just real things. A warm cup of coffee, a quiet moment, a roof over your head, breath in your lungs, a conversation that uplifted you. Let small joys accumulate until they reshape the heart. Maybe it looks like pausing before buying something new and thanking God for something you already have. Maybe it looks like turning off the endless scroll that feeds comparison.
Maybe it means naming God's provision out loud in front of your kids, your spouse, or your own anxious heart. Contentment is not a destination. It's a daily path. It's not discovered in perfect circumstances, but in a surrendered heart. When we learn to say, Jesus, you are enough, we discover that true abundance is not tied to income.
It's tethered to our shepherd. And if you want to go deeper into what it looks like to choose contentment each day, Our Ultimate Treasure was written with that very purpose in mind. It's a 21-day devotional designed to help you loosen your grip on the things of this world and grow in your trust in the one who provides everything you truly need. You can pick up your copy of Our Ultimate Treasure today at faithfi.com. And if you'd like to place a bulk order for your church or small group, we offer discounts as well.
That's faithfi.com slash shop. Remember, contentment doesn't mean we stop planning, pursuing goals, or enjoying the good gifts he provides. It means those things no longer have to carry the weight of satisfying our souls. We can hold them with open hands because our security rests somewhere far better. In a world constantly whispering more, Jesus invites us to rest in him and say, I have enough because he is enough.
That's real contentment, and it's available to every believer who chooses to trust the shepherd who never leaves and never forsakes. We'll be right back with your questions after this. Stick around. 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. Wondering who Faith and Finance recommends as a banking partner that aligns with Christian values? It's Adelphi Christian Banking, the trusted team you've known as Christian Community Credit Union. With high-yield checking, savings, Visa cash back cards, and a competitive money market account, your everyday banking helps advance the gospel. Visit faithfi.com slash banking and use the code faithfi.
Membership eligibility required. Accounts are privately insured up to $250,000. This institution is not federally insured. Hey, thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West.
You know, as we talk about managing God's money, we want to get into those issues that you're facing today. You know, when we look to the counsel of Scripture, we see really some overriding principles. Once we deal with the fact that God owns it all and we're a steward, we move beyond that into really the blocking and tackling, if you will, those money management principles that help us make wise decisions. And a lot of times I get asked, you know, if you were to boil it down into what God's Word says about the actual mechanics of managing money, what are they? And I would say there really are five, and all of these find their roots in God's word.
Number one is spending less than you earn. That's the key to every financial success. If you're living beyond God's provision, you're going to incur debt, and that's going to be problematic. And so that leads to number two. After we live within our means, we avoid the use of debt.
Now, debt can be productive. It's not that all debt is wrong or bad, certainly not a sin. We want to try to use it for only those things where the economic gain is more than the or greater than the economic cost. And so that means we're using it for appreciating assets like your home, like a business that you might be starting, those kinds of things. But where you can service the debt, not in the best of times, but even when things get a little tight.
So just be on your guard there and realize there's a change in the relationship debtor to borrower. Bible refers to it as a master-slave relationship, which is why we really need to be cautious about lending to family and friends.
So live within your means. Avoid the use of debt because debt mortgage is the future. The third is to set long-term goals. You know, we see this in God's word as we look at the opportunity to think not just around the here and now, but further out. Because when you and I have a longer term perspective, we're going to make a better decision today because we're thinking about what is the wise thing to do.
Given everything I know about what's happened in the past and my present circumstances and my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise decision for me right now in light of the principles in God's word? And so we set long-term goals to help us with that. Number four is we have margin. And margin is just another way of saying have some liquidity or a surplus, something left at the end of the month, which goes hand in hand with living within your means. But that margin is key because your margin, your excess beyond what you're going to consume this month is the only way you're going to be able to give more beyond hopefully what's coming out right off the top.
It's the only way you're going to be able to fund your long term goals or pay down debt. And so having that margin is key. It's also helpful in marriage. You know, my friend Shanti Feldhahn, who did the research on thousands of couples and she published it in her book, Thriving in Love and Money, she found that among the keys to having a healthy marriage related to the money conversation, among them was this idea of margin. The couples that were successful in having a healthy relationship with money in marriage, it wasn't that they had a higher income.
It's that whatever their income was, they were living below it. That's really key. That's the idea of margin. And then number five, give generously. Giving breaks the grip of money in our lives.
It allows us to participate in God's redemptive work in the world. And it should be an overflow of grace, the grace that has been extended to us. Our natural response is we should be a generous people. And when we do that and we understand that truth, it changes everything.
So those five that we find rooted in Scripture, live within your means, avoid the use of debt, set long-term goals, have some margin or some liquidity, and give generously. And if you do those five things over a lifetime, you will have more than you need.
Now, will we be free of hardship? No. We live in a fallen world. There will be plenty of challenges along the way. but at least we put ourselves in a position to experience God's best.
All right, we're going to head to the phones. Let's begin. We're going to dive in in Indiana. Christy, you'll be our first caller. Go ahead.
Oh, super. Thanks, Rob. It's good to speak with you. You as well.
So, thank you. I was looking for some insights or perspective that you might have kind of on a broader level where I'm 53 years old. I'm single, never been married. And I am kind of at a crossroads point where the job I have now, it is a great job. I do enjoy it.
I'm blessed to have a salary that I can afford to contribute the maximum amount to my employer's Roth 401k plan, as well as contribute the maximum on the Roth IRA side, but I'm looking ahead to what the future may hold. And I know that there is a university in the area which offers a really great retiree health insurance package And I know most likely if I were to try to find a job within that university arena, it would be at less salary. And so I just am trying to figure out in my mind which route to go as far as wanting to prepare for the future and what I may need, whether to stay on the same track I'm on or and try and find something within the health insurance arena as I age versus pursuing a potential benefit in this other university arena. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, it's a great question, Christy, and I appreciate the way you frame that. And it's really helpful to know that, you know, you have a job you love. You've got a great salary. You've got the ability to maximize retirement savings. I wouldn't automatically leave that job just to obtain retiree health insurance.
Instead, maybe I'd put an actual dollar value on the university benefit and then compare it with everything you'd give up.
So I think, you know, that approach allows us to treat the university's retiree health insurance almost like another retirement asset.
So first, you'd want to get the university's actual retiree health plan documents, not just, you know, they have great retirement insurance, but really know what is the service requirement. For example, do you have to work a certain number of years, you know, before you'd be able to get to that benefit? What percentage of the premium do they cover? Can they change the benefit? What happens at 65 when Medicare begins?
You know, Medicare notes that employer retiree coverage often becomes secondary to Medicare, and employers then can change the premiums or benefits.
So that, you know, those specifics matter. And then you can compare the jobs in dollars.
So just for example, let's say, you know, your current job's $150,000, the university's at $100,000.
Well, that's a $50,000 annual pay cut. if you work another 12 years, that's $600,000 of gross compensation in terms of a difference before even considering raises and bonuses and retirement matches and investment growth. And a valuable retiree medical plan might justify some salary reduction, but you'd want to know whether it's really worth giving up that much.
So if you put a value on the retirement savings opportunity, you know, you could begin to, you know, compare apples to apples. And I'd actually be more concerned about how you plan to cover health care if you retire before 65 than the coverage after 65, because once you're Medicare eligible, the Medicare becomes the foundation of the coverage, if that makes sense.
So let's do this. I'm up against a break, but I want to get to your thoughts on all that.
So we'll chat a bit more about that. A quick break and back with much more on faith and finance. You all stay with us. We'll continue to apply God's wisdom to your financial decisions and choices just around the corner. 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 findacka.com.
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All right, we're going to take some questions today. We'll get to as many as we can here in this final segment. If you have a question on giving, saving, spending, and aligning that with your values as a Christ follower, call right now, 800-525-7000. I've got some lines open, room for maybe two more questions in addition to those holding 800-525-7000. Mike, you'll be next up in Alabama.
Go ahead. my wife's brother-in-law uh her sister's husband uh ask her if he if she would ask my wife if she would notarize a handwritten will if he wrote everything down is that a good idea bad idea legal or not legal yeah i would caution you against thinking that a notarizing a handwritten will makes it valid. And it does vary by state. Certainly, it has to be in writing, signed by the person making the will and signed by at least two witnesses who witnessed the signing or the person's acknowledgement. But, you know, many states don't generally recognize a handwritten, what they call holographic will as an exception to those formalities just because the entire document's in the in the person's handwriting.
The notary's role is primarily in making the will self-proving. And Alabama, I think, allows the person making the will and the witnesses to acknowledge that before a notary. But I think the question is, should your wife, and she is a notary, is that right? That's correct. She is a notary, has been for a very long time.
Yeah. And so if the question is, should my wife who's a notary just notarize her brother-in-law's handwritten will, I'd say without, not without making sure the will has been properly executed under Alabama law because notarization isn a substitute for the required witnesses And because she related to him by marriage I be even more inclined to have an unrelated notary handle the self-proving affidavit there.
So, you know, I think for those reasons, I'd probably recommend she have an Alabama state attorney review the document before it's signed, and then, and only then get a non-family notary involved, if it were me.
Well, that's exactly what I told her. You're just helping me out.
So I appreciate that. I just thought it was a bad idea with the relative and everything. And she just said, well, I don't know why. I said, well, I'm going to call and see. I'm going to call and ask Rob.
Who's Rob? I said, I just got to listen to him after that. You have a lot.
Well, be sure to tell her that I didn't know which side you were on before I came down on your side, okay? Oh, no. I'm going to tell you where I'm on my side 100%. That's great.
Well, listen, if she wants to talk further, tell her to give me a call. Hey, Mike, thanks for being a great listener faithfully. And, hey, stay on the line. I'm going to send you a copy of my devotional. It's called Our Ultimate Treasure, and it's our gift to you.
And thanks for being on the program today. Hopefully I stay out of trouble here.
South Carolina, Emmy, thanks for calling. Go ahead. Hey. I was calling to see how much cushion is enough cushion to step out of a good-paying job to be a stay-at-home mom. Currently, my husband and I have two littles, and we have about $45,000 worth of land debt, which is our only debt.
And we have about $20,000 in the bank as cushion. We would be going down to a tight budget. Yes.
Okay. Have you run that budget, Emmy, that does not include your income? And are you able to cover your obligations and still have anything left over? right now it would be very very very close um we that one debt if i could eliminate it before stepping out um we would definitely be in a better position that's kind of what i'm working toward now i just don't want to linger too long if i don't have to kind of thing we only have about ten thousand dollars worth of interest left on that loan because we have a pretty low rate So I was trying to delete it totally from the equation before leaping, but I just kind of am a little sad that I'm missing certain years of my young kid's life. Yes.
Yeah. Well, I certainly understand that. And I love the heart behind the move you're making here. And I certainly wouldn't want to be the one to stand in the way of that. I think the finances are one consideration and an important one.
But you also need to follow, you know, your your prayerful consideration for this as husband and wife, one flesh together and follow the leading of the Lord. I would just say if all things being equal, I'd love for a family voluntarily moving from two incomes to one to have a little bit larger emergency fund than typical.
So, you know, often we say three to six months. I might want six to nine months worth of expenses in the bank. The other option is you could run a test on this. You could say, you know, let me do a simple test. I'm going to take the next three to six months and live entirely on one income and then take 100% of that other income and put it toward paying down the debt.
Now, it's not going to eliminate the payment probably until you pay it off, but at least you would do two things. Number one, you'd be a little bit closer to paying it off. And then second, you would have, you know, the actual data to say, are we being a little too optimistic to think we can live on one or can we actually do it? and prove that to yourselves over three to six months. And maybe the goal is to say, okay, I'm going to continue working through this school year.
We're already into one school year. And, you know, we're going to work really hard throughout this year to still be fully present with the kids when you're home and when they're home. And, you know, and really maximize these days that I know are fleeting. As a dad, I've experienced that all the time, especially as I'm a year away from being an empty nester. Julie and I, but, you know, I think if you, one option would be to say, we're going to take this year, live on one income, take a hundred percent of what's left and just attack our debt and build our savings and then be ready to start homeschooling the following year.
Or you say, no, we see how we can do this on paper. It's not ideal, but we feel like, you know, the Lord is leading us this way. We have a real conviction around it and we're going to go for it. And, you know, you go that direction. I think either there's not a wrong decision here.
I think the question is just, do you want to be a little more conservative and prove this out and get a little stronger financial footing before you make the move? Does that make sense? It does. I guess I should say also we could probably get rid of it totally with the debt within like a year's time. and we'd be like using all of our savings and all of the money that we're working hard to pay towards it yeah and i wouldn't want to do that because i certainly i mean the nice thing about the year is it syncs up with the next school year the challenge is i wouldn't want you to be going into this even by getting rid of that debt with no savings i'd want you to have at least three to six months at a minimum even if the debt we're still hanging around just really be realistic on that budget before you make the call.
God bless you, Emmy. Boy, what a great program today.
So appreciate your questions and your calls. Thanks for being along with us today. I hope we've encouraged you in your role as being a faithful steward in managing God's money. I couldn't do this without my team, Sandy Dickinson, Jim Henry, Taylor Stanrich, and Devin Patrick. Come back and join us tomorrow.
We'll see you then. Bye-bye. Faith and Finance is provided by FaithFi and listeners like you. Thank you.
