What the Cross Reveals About Generosity

If you had to guess, what would you say is the most generous act of all time? Well, it's always a treat to welcome Art Rayner back on the program. Art is the director of the Institute for Christian Financial Health, the organization that certifies Christian financial counselors. Art, great to have you back with us. Rob, it is always an honor to join you.

Art, we'll talk more about the CERT CFC program in just a little bit. But first, I want to dig into this passage of Scripture that we're talking about today. It happens to come from Matthew 27. So why don't you take us into this and pull out the big ideas for us?

Yeah. In Matthew 27, we read how the unfathomable became reality. God sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to the world. While on the earth, He lived a sinless life, doing what no human ever could do on their own. Yet, He was condemned to die on a cross. In Matthew 27, we see Jesus willingly hanging on a cross, knowing His sacrifice was the only way men and women could be forgiven of their sins and have a right relationship with God. So Christians can't look at the cross without seeing radical generosity. The blood stained wood reminds us of the greatest gift ever given. It shows us what genuine biblical generosity looks like.

The cross reveals five important lessons. First, biblical generosity is not deserved. There has never been, nor will there ever be a human that deserved what we read about in Matthew 27.

The Bible is very clear on this matter. In Romans 3 23, it says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Yeah, absolutely. Justification by grace through faith, it is the only way to heaven provided by Jesus.

Yeah, absolutely. And the next lesson is that biblical generosity should be a priority. God did not give us His leftovers. John 3 16 tells us, For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. God gives us His one and only, His first and best. God leads us in the first fruits principle found in Proverbs 3 9 and all throughout Scripture.

Yeah, no question about it. So clearly, it's not deserved, and it should be a priority when we're talking about biblical generosity. What's the next lesson you pull out here, Art? Yeah, it's that biblical generosity should be sacrificial. Sacrifice occurs when something that is both desirable and beneficial is given up. Jesus's sacrifice was not only astonishing because He was unjustly executed. Jesus's sacrifice was astonishing because He took on the wrath of God for all sins past, present and future. It is an act that is truly unfathomable to the human mind.

It is the epitome of sacrifice. Yeah, absolutely. And through His sinlessness, Jesus was the only person who could do all that.

What is then the next lesson? Yeah, that's right. Biblical generosity should reflect God's generosity. God is a generous God. And throughout Scripture, we see God's generosity on full display. God's generosity is no more evident than when He sent His Son to earth as our sacrificial lamb. And our final lesson is this. Biblical generosity impacts eternity.

The cross certainly impacted eternity. When we give, individuals may hear about and put their faith in Christ because we chose to live with open hands. It is an amazing honor to live and give generously. Yeah, and there's no question about that. But people are watching, which means that the way we handle money, how tightly we grip it, how loosely we hold it is a testimony to the world, especially in uncertain times. Would you agree?

Yeah, without question. For most of the world, generosity is about the leftovers. After a few needs have been taken care of, after the wants have been considered, then what we look at in our bank account, whatever's left, that's what we give out of.

We demonstrate God's gift to us best when we ensure that giving is a priority, that it's done proportionally, sacrificially, and cheerfully. We'll talk about the implications to all of this in your life and giving with Art Rayner, plus more on the Certified Christian Financial Counselor Certification. Art Rayner with us, director of the Institute for Christian Financial Health. We'll be back with more right after this. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live.

With me today, my friend, Art Rayner. He's the director of the Institute for Christian Financial Health, the organization that certifies Christian financial counselors. In fact, we'll talk about the CERT CFC program in just a bit. It may be the perfect certification for you if you feel called to help God's people steward their financial resources. But first, Art, just before the break, you were unpacking Matthew 27 for us, this unfathomable reality that Jesus, having lived a sinless life, did what no human could do. He gave his life to be condemned on a cross so that we might, through his substitutionary atonement, big word, we might be reconciled to the Father and have a right relationship with him. But as you said so well, that has implications for so many things, including our generosity. Now, one of the questions that so often comes up is, okay, Art, we're no longer under the law of Moses.

We're under the law of Christ. So how do we pull forward that guideline of the tithe and yet still live within what the New Testament describes as generous giving when we look at Jesus' own words? Yeah, so throughout Scripture, what we see is that one, we are to make giving a priority. We are to give our first and our best.

We've mentioned that. We also see the concept of proportional or percentage-based giving, that we are to give according to what God has entrusted to us. So there should be a relationship between what God has entrusted to us and the amount of our giving. God could have said, everybody give $1,000 and we'll just call it a day, but he didn't. Instead, he said, there should be a relationship between what I've given you and what you then give toward my mission. And then, as we've already mentioned, giving is to be done sacrificial. One of my favorite stories about sacrificial generosity is found in the gospel where we have the widow who gave only two coins. Now, if you recall that story, Jesus was at the temple treasury watching people give large sums of money, and he pulled his disciples over and he said, do you see her? And he was pointing out the widow who gave two coins.

And he said, she gave more than anybody else here. Now, was Jesus bad at math? No. Was his financial literacy low? No. Was he bad at pre-algebra?

Like I was—no. What was he saying? He was saying that in God's economy, amount sacrificed supersedes amount given. You see, God cares more about what's left at home than what's put into the offering plate. You see, when the rich went home, assuming that they were just giving out of excess, their life went on like normal.

There was not sacrifice. But when the widow went home, her life was dramatically altered. And we will find our hearts most full of contentment and satisfaction when we give sacrificially, which once again means that we're giving up something that's both desirable and beneficial. But we also can give cheerfully in the midst of sacrifice, because we're looking through the lens of eternity, and we're seeing the internal impact.

Lives changed forever. Which, by the way, that widow, I bet that she had the best smile in the place. I bet you that she was grinning cheek to cheek, that she was giving maybe a few fist bumps and high fives as she went to give that gift, because there's no way that Jesus would have pointed out a grumpy giver, for example, for how we should give.

More than likely, actually, I know she was a cheerful giver. Yeah, no doubt about that. And that's very well said. You know, our friend Randy Alcorn calls the tie the training wheels of giving. And it seems appropriate, because for those of us who have seen what Jesus has done on our behalf on the cross art, it seems like it would just be natural that the bar would be raised, that yes, we should give proportionately. Yes, we should give systematically. But to whom much is given, much is required. It seems like we ought to go well beyond our giving systematically to the local church and look for that opportunity to be sacrificial, as the widow was, the most famous giver in the New Testament.

We don't know her name. We know she gave out of her poverty. But it also strikes me, Art, that in order to do that, we need to have a plan for our giving. That's just not going to happen haphazardly, is it?

That's right. And you mentioned systematic giving. We also find that in Scripture, where we are planning our generosity in order to be able to take a portion of our income, we need to know, okay, what is our income and what are we going to do when that income hits? Well, there certainly is a place for spontaneous giving. When we give, that's above and beyond what we had even planned, because the Holy Spirit has prompted us to do so.

So there certainly is a place for that. But you have to plan your giving. Those who are generous, who follow God's design for money, tend to be systematic. They plan out their giving. For those who don't, you end up usually giving less than you ever intended. Yeah, there's no question. Art, this was so helpful.

I don't want time to get away from us though. So let's talk for a moment about the Certified Christian Financial Counselor Program or CERT CFC for short. Share the vision around this certification, why you saw the need for it. We need an army of men and women who are helping others learn about and pursue God's design for money. We need people that can help explain what the Bible says about money and then also how to live that out practically in their finances. And so CERT CFCs or Certified Christian Financial Counselors guide individuals and couples in making wise financial decisions like getting out of debt, build sound financial habits like keeping a budget and saving for emergencies and increasing their biblical financial literacy. And so we're looking for men and women who want to do just that. Art, I had a call just the other day of a couple and they were just really struggling to find a way forward in terms of bringing their finances together.

They were operating out of the mine and yours mentality. Is that something that a CERT CFC could help with as well? Yes, absolutely. CERT CFCs can work with couples who may be on different pages as it relates to their finances, who are not following God's design for their marriage in the area of finances where God wants us to be one in all areas, including our money. And so a CERT CFC can help couples get on the same page to help them follow the same mission and ultimately chase after God's design for their marriage and for their finances. Yeah, that's helpful.

We have just a couple of minutes left quickly. What about those in our audience today who think they might like to become a CERT CFC? What are the requirements? Well, if you are passionate about what the Bible says about money, if you love helping people with their finances, if you want to start your own financial counseling practice or serve in your church in that capacity, or you want a trustworthy designation, then the Certified Christian Financial Counselor Program is for you. You would be a good candidate for that program.

Excellent. And what about those in our audience who think they might need a CERT CFC? You mentioned a few of the reasons. They're having difficulty communicating about finances in their marriage. They need help with a budget.

Anything you might want to add for that group? Yeah, absolutely. You can go to faithfi.com. You'll see the Find a Professional link.

Click on that. And then if you click Get Out of Debt, if you click that you need help with marketing, then it will direct you to a Certified Christian Financial Counselor. Excellent. Art, we so appreciate your time today, my friend. I appreciate you encouraging us, inspiring us to biblical generosity, but also sharing with us about the CERT CFC designation. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for having me.

All right, folks. Listen, if you'd like to help others be wise and faithful stewards of God's money, perhaps you want to earn the CERT CFC certification. Just head to christianfinancialhealth.com. Now if you think you could benefit from a Certified Christian Financial Counselor, go to faithfi.com and click Find a Professional at the top of the page.

That's faithfi.com. That was Art Raynor, Director of the Institute for Christian Financial Health. Your calls are next, 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West and this is Faith and Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. We'll be right back after this break. The opinions offered during this program represent the personal or professional opinions of the participants given for informational purposes only.

Any information provided is not intended to replace advice from a financial, medical, legal, or other professional who understands your specific situation. Well, I'm so glad you joined us today for Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West.

What a joy to talk to my friend Art Raynor today. As Art mentioned, if you're looking for somebody to journey with you in your financial decision-making, we have two different groups of professionals that can do that. Both of them are accessible to you when you go to faithfi.com and click Find a Professional. But if you're looking for professional financial advice, and that would be in the areas of legal, financial planning, investment management, also insurance, well that would be a Certified Kingdom Advisor. When you click Find a Professional at faithfi.com and you choose one of those categories, planning, investing, accounting, and attorneys, also insurance, you will be presented within a search to put in your zip code and you'll get a list of Certified Kingdom Advisors. If you choose, however, two other categories including budgeting and debt, that will instead present you with a list of Certified Christian Financial Counselors. So the search engine kind of helps get you pointed to either a Certified Kingdom Advisor, if that's what your need is, or in the area of budgeting and debt, that's going to be a Certified Christian Financial Counselor.

All of that is accomplished in one place just to make it really easy for you. Again, faithfi.com, click Find a Professional at the top of the page. Alright, we're going to begin to take your phone calls here in just a few moments. We've got lines open today.

We'd love to hear from you. The number to call to be a part of the program is 800-525-7000. Again, that's 800-525-7000. Lynn is our call screener today and she'll be taking those calls. We'll get to as many of them as we can between now and the end of the broadcast.

Again, that number 800-525-7000. We also want to be able to dive into an email or two today as well. We know you're sending those regularly to us when you visit moodyradio.org slash finance.

We enjoy taking those as well. Again, that's moodyradio.org slash finance. In the news today, we're seeing some interesting data around the great wealth transfer that's coming.

I know you've been hearing a lot about it. Well, the number is, according to this study, and there's obviously a lot of different numbers floating around out there, but this one is estimating the great wealth transfer to be at $68 trillion with a significant portion going to millennials and Gen Z. This unprecedented transfer will have broad implications for the global economy and, of course, the financial industry. Younger investors, particularly those between 21 and 42, are less likely to believe that traditional stocks and bonds alone can yield above average returns. Many of them are exploring digital assets, sustainable investments. I saw a study the other day that said nearly 18% of all investable assets in the U.S. are now in what are called sustainable or ethical investments. Now, that includes the majority of that in what are called ESG investments, not something I'm particularly fond of in most cases, and we won't get into that now, but interesting to see the kinds of investments that are being selected, including cryptos among these younger investors. Millennials, having weathered the storm of the 2008 financial crisis, have actually demonstrated some remarkable financial resilience and adaptability. They tend to prioritize experiences over material possessions, and they're quick to embrace fintech solutions with smartphones being such a significant portion of their lives. This generational difference in outlook is not just reshaping, but it's literally revolutionizing how financial services are provided.

That's going to be interesting to watch in the days ahead. I will also say that effective estate planning is a crucial step in preserving and transferring this massive wealth transfer that's going to take place, and it's important to note that many baby boomers may see their savings diminished by healthcare costs later in life, which could limit the amount passed to the next generation, but either way, the key question in this season of life is determining whether the next steward is chosen and prepared, and that would be my counsel to you if you're thinking about this season of life as somebody who's going to transfer wealth. Have you made those decisions? Have you selected the ministries that are going to benefit from your estate? Are you preparing the next generation to receive the wealth?

Keep in mind, it's bigger than just the financial capital, and that inheritance is going to take whatever that life trajectory is for that heir and propel it even further, which is concerning if they're headed in the wrong direction, at least in this season of life, and so give a lot of prayerful consideration to the amount that's transferred and the preparedness of those heirs that will be receiving it, because obviously their spiritual results or implications are far more important than the financial, so just keep that in mind. All right, we're going to dive into your questions today. We know lines are filling up quickly, but we'll get to as many of those as we can. I've got a few open, though, at 800-525-7000. Let's go to Arizona to begin today. Hi, Arnold.

How can I help? Yes, Rob, I've got a question about the option of how you can... what option compared to waiting and paying the RMDs, okay, at the required age, and starting, say, 65 in that eight-year span, taking out big chunks out of your 401k or IRA. What do you feel about that?

Yeah, why are you feeling the need to get it out? I mean, even when the RMD kicks in, all that means is you're just required to take out a certain amount. It's going to be added to your taxable income, but you're going to keep the balance, so what's the concern there? That could be a higher tax rate, from what I understand, 33 and a third to even maybe 50%. Oh, I see where you're going. Right now, the way... Yeah, you see, so right now, what I'm saying, if you could go up to 200 and with a standard deduction, say, 227,000, you're still staying at 22%. Yeah, I see.

I mean, you're going to potentially, depending on how much you pull out, you're going to allow that to trip up into a higher tax bracket, so you've got to be careful there. Let's do this. I'd love to dig into that, and I do have some thoughts on this. I've got to take a break, though, so Arnold, stay right there, and as soon as we're done with this break, we'll pick it up on the other side and talk about where you go from here. We'll be right back on Faith and Finance Live.

Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance Live. I'm Rob West. Before the break, we were talking to Arnold in Arizona. He's wondering about his 401k and some RMDs, required minimum distributions, that are coming down the road and whether he should consider pulling that money out now. What is your age now, Arnold, did you say? Okay, my age, I'm already there.

I'm real close to 73. I'm talking in general for the younger people, because the time to make it up is either from 65 when you can draw your full Social Security or almost full return. That's eight years to 73, and then if you have the timetable from 73 to 81, the RMDs, I don't know what exact age they figured you're going to live to, compared to taking 22% tax rate right now for the first eight years and compared to waiting and maybe taking 33 and a third to 50%.

Yeah, well, obviously, there's a lot of unknowns there with regard to what that's going to go to. I mean, the current marginal rate under Tax Cuts and Jobs Act up to, for single filers at least, up to 182,000 is 24. That would jump up to 28% in 2026. The 32% bracket jumps to 33. The 35 bracket stays the same.

So unless we see significant increases beyond that, then the increases would be nominal, and that would be offset by the ability to let that money continue to grow, just given that you would be able to pull that out at a much slower pace, even though you're going to have a little bit more in the way of tax. The other thing to keep in mind, Arnold, is the qualified charitable distribution. I mean, unless something changes in the tax code that prevents that, it does give you the ability to say, okay, if I'm doing my giving out of cash in after tax dollars, which most people do, what if I stop that and instead did my giving out of my IRA, which allows me to give away up to $100,000 a year, do perhaps the same level of giving I was going to do out of after tax cash, but instead do it as a qualified charitable distribution, doesn't get added to my taxable income, and I'm satisfying my RMD at the same time. Are you aware of that strategy?

Yes, I was just reading on that on a double ARP bulletin that comes with monthly. It's $105,000 that you can get charitable. You can do that every year.

I understand that. But what I'm saying now, I'm trying to say that you can save 10% almost if you start taking those up to $200,000 and some thousand, as long as you stay between there, not over, you'll stay at that 22% tax bracket instead of taking a chance and getting to $73,000 RMDs are required at 33 and a third or even higher. You see, that's what I see that there's a chance to save almost 10% on tax. Yeah, but what if you never pay tax because you're doing your giving out of your IRA in the form of your RMD every year. And so it never becomes taxable. And in my way of doing it, you're leaving the money in the tax deferred environment so it can continue to grow without the taxes impacting it. Whereas as soon as you pull it out, now it's all taxable if you invest it because you don't need it all. And what if you leave it in there and then just satisfy the RMD through your giving every year? Oh, okay. Now another option that I've been put up with and according to cost me quite a bit of money, life insurance is not taxable to it.

We leave it to Okay, how do you feel about that? Because at this age where I'm at, I'd pay 5000 for just a $100,000 policy. Yeah, the problem is that's going to get a lot more expensive over time. And I would rather not fund an inheritance with life insurance. As you age, that's going to get more costly.

And you're going to end up with a lot of fees and premiums being paid. You know, the only thing that's going to be taxable to your air to you to your estate, assuming you don't have a state over $13 million. The only thing that's going to be taxable to your estate is anything beyond that 13 million, at least today. And nothing is taxable to your heirs unless it's in of course, an IRA.

And then they would just pull it out based on whatever that schedule is, probably a 10 year pay, either a five or a 10 year payout, unless it's a spouse. So you know, I'm not a big fan of funding inheritance through life insurance just because it's an unnecessary expense. I'd rather you just enjoy what you have and then leave it to your heirs.

Most of that non IRA at non retirement account assets is is inherited tax free. But there's some good thoughts there. I'm not discounting what you're saying here, Arnold. And I understand that taxes are going to become more of an issue and a consideration if we don't see a change in administration. And, you know, we see the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire like it's set to.

But I think there are some ways around it notably through the qualified charitable distribution. But we appreciate your call today, sir. I hope that was helpful. Let's go to Tampa Bay. Hi, Julie.

How can I help? Hey, how are you doing today? Doing great. All is concerning. I was trying to figure out.

Thank you. If I made the right decision. So basically, I had some money from an inheritance and it was in vesting into stocks and bonds. And when I first invested the money, you know, I was able to increase the money by ten thousand dollars. Then as time went on, it went under my initial investment. So, of course, I called him up and I said, hey, look, I'm losing money, you know. So they said, well, you know, why don't you go ahead and put the money into what some type of CD where I earned a certain percentage? It won't go under my initial investment. But at the end of it's kind of before years, at the end of the four years, I would have made an eighty five thousand dollar profit. So I was trying to, you know, you know, you wonder should I have left it into the stocks and bonds or, you know, I'm one and, you know, I plan to retire at sixty seven.

So just wanted to confirm with you if you thought I made the right decision moving it into the CD versus leaving it in the stock market. Yeah. Yeah.

That's a good question. Julie, did you say you're 51 or 61? I'm 61.

I'll be 60 this year. OK, so you say you're about five years away from retirement. I mean, typically as a 61 year old person, I would say, you know, about the right mix is maybe 50 50 between stocks and bonds.

And you could put the CDs in the bond portion of that allocation. How much were you left that you invested? I was left with one hundred and forty five thousand.

All right. And what do you have today in the CDs about that same amount? It's a little bit more. I've gained about a thousand dollars since I switched it over to the CD. OK, so call it call it one hundred and fifty. And what do you have retirement assets as well? I have a 401. OK. And how much is in there roughly? A hundred thousand.

About a hundred thousand. All right. And when you retire in five years, what are you going to need in addition to Social Security each month to cover your budget?

Do you know? Well, I projected it and I think what you mean as far as being able to pay all my bills and everything, I would project that I would probably need like twenty five hundred dollars. All right. That's the same bills. That's my accounting, buying a grocery. I didn't put that in there, you know, or I want to buy myself a new dress.

Yeah, no, I get that. And that makes sense. So here's what I would do.

A couple of steps. The first question was, should I have gone into the CDs? I would have advised against it if you would have called me then, because I think you need to take a longer view of this. It's not a matter of what happens in a quarter or a year or even two years. Even when you retire, we need this money to last if you're in good health, 30 years. So I would have said, let's keep at least half in stocks. Let's put the other half in bonds and fixed income type investments and then let's ride it through. Even if we get into a recession, the market's down 20 percent. You don't sell.

The other step for you is to do your retirement budget with everything in and figure out how much you need from Social Security and then how much is left that you need to pull from your investments. Stay on the line. We'll talk a bit more off the air.

We'll be right back. This is Faith and Finance Live, where we want you to see God as your ultimate treasure and money, a tool to accomplish God's purposes. Our goal to help you be that wise and faithful steward, bringing you hope and encouragement each day, but also biblical financial wisdom.

I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions today at 800-525-7000. Hey, before we head back to the phones, you know, here at the last two months of our fiscal year, that's right, our year here at FaithFi ends on June the 30th. This is a really important time for us to hear from you with your financial support. If you find some value in this program, maybe you've seen the benefit of biblical wisdom in your own life or you've been encouraged by something you heard or you've been able to put something into practice that's made an impact. You listen regularly, but you've never supported the ministry here at FaithFi. Well, we'd invite you to do that with either a one time or a monthly gift as a FaithFi partner.

You can learn all about it at faithfi.com and just click Give. And we're so thankful for so many wonderful content partners that we have that bring you God's wisdom around your financial decision making, like Matt Bell, who joins us regularly on this program. In fact, we talked to Matt recently about his thoughts related to the broadcast.

And here's what he had to say. Hi, this is Matt Bell at Sound Mind Investing. Managing money as a steward of God's resources is something I don't think any of us fully master. We're always learning more about what that means and what it looks like in our daily lives. That's why I appreciate FaithFi so much. It provides ongoing, trustworthy teaching and encouragement for traveling this journey well. If you share Matt's sentiment and you'd like to support our work, just head again to faithfi.com, click Give.

That's faithfi.com and click Give. By the way, Matt will be back on the program with lessons from today's retirees. That's right, a pretty significant study that was done related to today's retirees. He's pulling out some of the big ideas found in that study. He'll share them with us on the 21st of May.

So just a couple of weeks away, we'll look forward to having Matt back with us. All right, let's try to dive into some more questions today. We'll get to as many as we can.

To Woodbury, New Jersey. Hi, Jessica, how can I help? Hello.

Hi. I'm calling because I have three jobs. And I was wondering, I know the Bible says you need to tie. So I do tie to my church, every paycheck, but I have two more. So do I, my question is, do I tie all three 10%? Meaning 30%? Or just 10%?

Yeah, it's a great question, Jessica. So the the principle of the tithe would be applied like this. We look at first of all, what is my increase? And in your case, your increase is anything that you receive.

So it would be your income in the form of your paycheck, whether you get one paycheck from one employer, or you get four paychecks from four employers, it doesn't really matter. That's all your increase. And then you could look at gifts or inheritance. I mean, there's a variety of ways we would receive an increase. And then, no matter what you receive, the word tithe means a 10th. And so that's where that 10% tithe idea comes from.

So the easiest way for you to do that would just be perhaps in any given week, you could just total up, what is the total amount of income that I received this week? And so maybe it's a week where you only received one check, great, you take 10% of that amount, you'd write a check to your church and take it with you, and and stick it in the the offering plate. If you received three checks in that week, whatever you received for that week, you'd total up all the amounts regardless of how many different employers paid you. And then again, you would write a check for 10% of that amount. That would be the tithe a 10th.

So it really doesn't matter how many different people pay you. It's just 10% of the total income that you're receiving. So that doesn't equal with three checks 30%. It's still 10%. It's just 10% of the total.

And that total is made up of three different employers paychecks. Does that make sense? Yes, it makes a lot of sense. Thank you. Okay, you're welcome.

Thanks for calling today. By the way, just a fun anecdote. You know, we we have Ron Blue on the program regularly. And Ron shared a story about this recently. Ron's the popular author on biblical finance. He said he and Judy started giving electronically. And they liked it, it was very convenient, but they just felt like they were missing out on the act of worship. And he would be quick to say, and I would too, that, you know, online giving is great.

It's very efficient. Julie and I give electronically and it just works for us. But he and Judy were sensing that they missed out on that kind of physical expression of taking their act of worship with them to church. So this is what they do.

It's similar to what I just shared with Jessica. When they come down for for breakfast on Sunday mornings, Ron has a little three by five card. He puts it on the table and he's written down any income they receive for the week. Now Ron's an author, so he's getting royalty checks and he does consulting and he works for various organizations. And so he might have half a dozen income sources. He just totals them all up on that three by five card and multiplies it by 10 percent, writes that number at the bottom. And then Judy writes out the check, the physical check for the amount based on that three by five card. And then when they head off to church, they take it with them. And they love it because it's a way they can celebrate on Sunday morning the tide that they're taking. They're now both involved in it.

And for them, they like the physical act of making that gift. Perhaps that's something to consider for you. It's a great question, though, from Jessica. All right.

Let's go to Akron, Ohio. Hi, Sally. How can I help you?

Hi, Rob. I listen to your program all the time and I used to have investments, but I had some high veterinary bills and I'm on disability and I'm trying to get an emergency fund. But every month I have to use the money that I put aside and I just needed some encouragement for how to get an emergency fund because I think that's the first step I have to do. Yeah, I think you're right, Sally. And boy, I can totally understand, especially now more than ever. It just seems like there's always more month than money because expenses are up across the board. I was just reading the other day, Sally, that the same basket of groceries that they looked at three and a half years ago versus today.

Again, the same items in the shopping cart are 21 percent higher today than they were three and a half years ago. Well, that's real and that's expensive. And you mentioned vet bills. And I know being a pet owner myself, Murphy, our golden retriever, you go to the vet, you're going to spend a lot of money.

It's just the way that it is. And so I think the challenge is when you're on a fixed income and you have unexpected expenses, it seems like the unexpected should be expected just because it happens so frequently. On top of the fact that expenses are up across the board, it's hard. So I think what we have to do is take a deep breath, invite the Lord into your financial life. You need to do your very best to budget your spending so that you don't allow your money to find its way into things that are unplanned as long to the best of your ability. So try to control your spending and then try to set as much aside as you can every month as surplus. So you've got to live within your means, meaning you want to live below your income. So you have some what we call margin or surplus. And the goal is for that margin to be able to go automatically into your emergency savings every month. It may be twenty five or fifty dollars, but at least something is going in to emergency savings. Now, there's going to be those months where you get to the end of the month and you say, despite my best efforts and really trying hard on this, I just don't have anything left.

In fact, I had to pull a little bit out of emergency savings. I get that. But the key is don't give up. Don't lose heart. Just stay at it. Be diligent and just try to get something into that emergency savings every month, even if it's just a few dollars so that you can build it up over time. And the goal is, of course, and I realize this is easier said than done.

The goal is to get to three to six months worth of expenses. And it may take you some time to do that, Sally, but I believe you can. Is that helpful though? That is helpful. I I try my best. It seems like at the end of the month is when things happen. You know, I'm doing pretty good. And then the end of the month comes and something comes up.

Yes, ma'am. I certainly understand that. Julie and I experience that in our lives. You know, you we use the faith by app. And so we've got our our digital envelope set up.

And so every day I'm in there and I'm watching them. And how are we doing in the eating out category? Now we have four kids. One's off at college.

I've got three in high school. And so, you know, and they're all athletes. And so they consume a lot of food. And I, you know, go through a gallon of milk just about every day, it seems like. But it seems like you're doing just fine. And then all of a sudden you open the app one day.

It's like, what happened there? And it just seems like there's always unexpected expenses coming out of left field. But you just need to stay at it. Hopefully we can be an encouragement to you here, Sally, each day. But I do appreciate you checking in with us. And if you have any other questions along the way, don't hesitate to reach out. May the Lord bless you, Sally. And thanks for being on the program. And thank you for being a faithful listener as well. Well, folks, we covered a lot of ground today. Ken, unfortunately, I think we're don't have enough time to adequately address your question. And so if you'd like to get on a future broadcast, we'll see if we could get you on tomorrow or next week. And I apologize for that.

Thank you for calling. But folks, you know, here's the bottom line. As we think about just being faithful and managing God's money, we've got to start with this idea that God owns it all, because that's true. And then that makes every spending decision a spiritual decision, because you and I are money managers for the King of Kings.

That's a high calling. And then we want to be found faithful. And so we have to apply biblical wisdom to our financial decisions. And here's one of the keys. Give generously.

Here's why. Giving breaks the power of money in our lives. And I've mentioned one giving opportunity today, and that is to support our work here at Faith Fight.

Let me finish today with one other, because we have a wonderful partner that I'm so excited about. It's called Buckner Shoes for Orphaned Souls. And, you know, there's 42,000 children in some part of the globe right now waiting for something you and I take for granted every day, and it's socks and shoes. And Buckner is putting shoes on these underprivileged kids and underserved communities literally around the globe so they can get to school, they can get to fresh water and sharing the love of Jesus with them at the same time they're protecting them from disease. If you want to know more about it, and even buy a pair of shoes through the website to put on one of these children, just go to GiveShoesToday.org. Hey, Faith and Finance Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and Faith by thinking to Amy, Lynn, Jim, and Tahira. Couldn't do it without them. We'll see you tomorrow.