Renewing Your Joy in Generosity

This faith and finance podcast is underwritten in part by Hope for Zambia, empowered by Family Legacy. Hope for Zambia, empowered by Family Legacy, is a ministry providing holistic care for over 14,000 vulnerable and orphaned children spiritually, intellectually, physically and emotionally.

Whether distributing five million meals each year to children and young adults, or by empowering students to graduate from high school and go on to pursue trade school or a university education, Hope for Zambia believes that when you educate a child, you transform their world. Go to HopeforZambia.com slash faith to give and change lives. Giving is supposed to be a source of great joy for God's people, but sometimes we act like it's just another pain in our wallet.

Hi, I'm Rob West. Christians are supposed to be generous, but maybe you're having trouble getting excited about the idea. Today, we'll point you back to the radical joy of godly generosity, and then we'll take your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is faith and finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Okay, it's time for some true confessions about your giving. Has your electronic donation at church every Sunday become a bit automatic? Or perhaps you're struggling financially right now, so you've reduced your giving and you're feeling a bit guilty. Then again, perhaps decisions about how much and where to give are causing tension in your marriage, so you end up dreading those conversations. There are so many ways our generosity can become stale and unjoyful.

If that's the case for you, it's time for a renewed perspective, and we're going to help you with that today. Let's begin by remembering that Christian generosity is different from the world's idea of generosity. Giving that honors God is not about showing off or improving our self-esteem or even getting buildings named after us. Ultimately, Christian generosity is different because we serve a different master. As it says in Ephesians 5-1, be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Because of love, Jesus gave his life on the cross for us, and we imitate him when we are radically, sacrificially, and joyfully generous. Another thing to remember about giving is that sometimes the action needs to precede the feeling. In other words, even if you don't feel joyful about giving sometimes, keep doing it anyway, because generosity pleases the Lord.

Ask Jesus to guide you as you give in faith, and the joy will come. Here's another way to renew your perspective on generosity. Cultivate a biblical attitude about your giving. God's Word says our giving should be secret, open-handed, cheerful, loving, and sacrificial.

Let's look at those attitudes more closely. First, giving should be secret, not showy. That way the glory goes to the Lord, not to the giver.

Jesus admonishes his followers in Matthew 6 to be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, not to be seen by them. But when you give to the needy, do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing so that your giving may be done in secret. Second, giving should be open-handed, not stingy. 2 Corinthians 9, 6, and 7 says, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Remember, what we have is not our own. It all belongs to God, whether it's time, talent, or treasure. So we can always afford to be generous because God is our provider. Third, giving should be cheerful, not reluctant. The passage in 2 Corinthians goes on to say, Each man should give as he is decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Having a cheerful attitude about giving might be a challenge.

You might have to ask God to change your heart in this area. Believe me, he will do that because a cheerful attitude towards giving is his desire for you. Fourth, giving should come from love, not obligation. Giving that glorifies God springs from love for God and our neighbor.

That love isn't something you can produce. It's a work of the Holy Spirit in you. And finally, giving should be sacrificial, not necessarily convenient. Sacrificial giving makes us more like Christ.

2 Corinthians 8, verse 9 says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. Sacrificial giving is a testimony that we trust God to meet our needs while we meet the needs of others. So to recap here, giving that honors God and fills us with joy from the Holy Spirit will be secret, open-handed, cheerful, loving, and sacrificial. And believe me, there are spiritual benefits to cultivating these attitudes and actions.

Most importantly, God gets the glory. John 3 21 says, Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. You see, as Christ followers, we long to be more and more like our Lord Jesus as we walk with him each day.

But sometimes you may find yourself giving with a reluctant spirit or because you feel guilty or out of a desire to earn the admiration of others. If that's the case for you today, ask the Lord to change your heart. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you, knowing that God will provide for your needs and the needs of others through you. All right, we're ready to answer your financial questions today. So give us a call, 800-525-7000. I'm Rob Lastin. We'll be right back on Faith and Finance.

Stay tuned. We're grateful for support from Guidestone, whose diversified suite of investment solutions align with Christian values to create positive change in the world. More information is available at GuidestoneFunds.com. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of Guidestone Funds before investing. They're distributed by Foresight Funds Distributors LLC, which is not an advisory affiliate, a registered investment advisor, nor do they provide investment advice.

Welcome back to Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. Taking your calls and questions, 800-525-7000.

To JP in Florida. Hi JP, go ahead. Hi, thank you for taking my call. Sure.

I have probably a very simple question for you. Okay. I have had for a very, very long time four credit cards.

Okay. Two I use all the time. Two others I never use because I'm trying to only use two credit cards and they are platinum cards. So I pay a significant $150 a year because they're platinum cards. Will it affect my credit scores if I personally cancel those cards? It may temporarily, but I wouldn't allow that to stop you. I don't like the fact that, you know, you've got these very expensive annual fees for these platinum cards.

I mean, no doubt there's benefits, but, you know, my experience is, unless you're traveling a lot for work and maybe your company picks this up as a business expense, so you have access to the, you know, maybe the sky clubs and things like that, you know, it doesn't pay to really have these platinum cards just because those annual fees can be $150, in some cases $200 or more annually. So I would absolutely get rid of that so you don't have that unnecessary expense. Could your credit score drop when you close those accounts? Absolutely, but it will be temporary and it will be minor.

Here's why. If that credit history comes out of the mix, that could affect it. Also, it's going to drive your credit utilization up if you're carrying a balance or even if you have a balance being reported at the end of the cycle each month prior to them receiving your payment. If the total available credit is coming down because now those two cards are no longer contributing to your total available credit and you're carrying a balance or it's showing a balance prior to you paying it off each month, and that total balance that you're carrying or running each month is above 30% of the limit that's now been lowered because you closed those two accounts, that could cause your score to come down. But in most cases, closing those accounts will just cause it to be a temporary drop of maybe 30 or 40 points and a couple of months later it will come right back up. So I wouldn't be concerned about it. I like the fact, again, that you'd be getting rid of that unnecessary expense.

And here's the bottom line, JP. Unless next month you're going out to buy a car and need a loan or buy a house and need a mortgage, it really doesn't matter kind of what your credit score is doing month to month. If, however, you are in the market for one of those and need to qualify for a loan, then now's not the time to close it. But apart from that, I would say go ahead and close those accounts.

Well, Chris, I haven't used them in three or four years, so they're expensive. And I do charge anywhere from four to seven or $8,000 a month on my other two cards, and I always pay it off 100%. So, you know, the two cards I'm using, I pay off completely at the end of the month. Yeah. Just know, though, that the balance you're charging, even though you're paying it off, if you pay it by the due date at the end of the cycle, whatever balance you have, that seven or $8,000 is being reported to your credit file as the balance, even though it's coming down to zero shortly after it's reported to the credit bureau.

So if you did see a decline because that balance that you're running every month right before you pay it off is above 30% of your limit, that may be a reason to start paying it earlier so that at the end of the cycle, the balance is at zero and that's what's being reported to the credit bureau. Does that make sense? Yeah. Well, it's other deducted on the day it's due.

Right. But that means that it's going to hit your credit file showing that balance. So you just may want to back that up and pay that earlier if you wanted to try to get your balance that's reported to the credit file down so that you're not going above that 30% limit.

Just something to think about if you're really concerned about your credit score. Thanks for calling today, JP. God bless you to New Mexico. Hi, Grace. Go right ahead. Hi, thanks for taking my call.

My mother passed away a few months ago and she left my siblings and I three, well inherited IRAs and I wanted to combine mine into one place. But I'm not sure really what to look for as far as picking the best one, excuse me, the best one for me. So I just kind of been sitting on them and just waiting and waiting and I really need to do something. And I have, well maybe after this, after you answer this, I could ask another question. Sure.

Yeah. I think it just depends on how you want to approach it. Are you considering having an advisor manage these IRAs?

I am considering. Okay. I would wait until you make that decision because once you select the advisor, that will determine the custodian for the IRAs and then those will be transferred over. Unless you need to make a decision right away, you may want to work through that process because one advisor may custody their assets at Fidelity and another may use Schwab and another may use yet another broker dealer. So you really need to wait and select the advisor first if you can.

Okay. Now, what about having an advisor? Don't you have to have a certain amount of money in order to do that?

Well, yes, in the sense that many investment advisors will have a minimum. Another option would be soundmindinvesting.org. They have the ability to work with investors, even those just starting out all the way up to those that have significant assets and, you know, six figures plus. So I would check that out as a good option. soundmindinvesting.org. If you wanted to take more of a passive approach, you could use a robo advisor, which is more of an automated solution using an algorithm that builds portfolios using low cost exchange traded funds.

These are basically what you call index funds and you could look at the Schwab intelligent portfolios as one of those options. But I think soundmindinvesting.org may be a good option for you. Yeah, it sounds like it. I think I will definitely contact them. Okay. Is there time for another? Yes, ma'am. Go right ahead. Sure.

Okay. Well, my mother's property is in probate and we've been told so many different stories regarding her house payment. Pay them, don't pay them, wait till it's out of probate.

Tell me what to do. I mean, we are making the monthly payments, but they are giving us such a hard time because they won't allow us and I'm the credit union. They won't allow us to have access to her records. Now we know that it's the right thing to pay. We want to, but I mean, they have to go through, jump through hoops just to accept our monthly payment. So should we wait till it's out of probate? Who is the executor? I mean, if a mortgage isn't paid during the, okay, if a mortgage isn't paid during the probate administration, the lender will eventually foreclose. And, um, so you, you want to keep that current. Um, but once the, um, the probate is opened, uh, then the estate's executor, in this case, your sister, who's the personal representative of the estate is really charged with paying all of the ongoing expenses, including, uh, that mortgage.

So she should be paying that and she should be able to demonstrate that she's the personal representative. Okay. So we'll do, uh, my siblings and I are all pitching in and, you know, because we're going to inherit the house. So, all right. So we'll just keep on making the monthly payments. Got it. Yeah.

I think that's the way to go for sure. We appreciate your call today. Thanks for being on the program. God bless you.

Hey, just after this break, we'll be back with a lot more of your calls and questions. Stay with us. This is Faith and Finance. Hope for Zambia, empowered by Family Legacy is a ministry providing hope to vulnerable and orphan children in Zambia by investing into their spiritual, intellectual, physical, and emotional growth and wellbeing, whether distributing 5 million meals each year to students or empowering them to graduate from high school and go on to pursue post-secondary education.

We believe that when you educate a child, you change their world. Go to HopeForZambia.com slash faith to transform a life. We are grateful for support from SoundMind Investing in the Faith and Finance Program. For more than 30 years, they've been helping Christians reach their financial goals with step-by-step guidance for investors at every stage from those just getting started to those getting ready for retirement. Through scriptural principles and practical suggestions, SMI offers financial wisdom for living well. More information, including the short video webinar on profit and peace of mind, no matter what's happening in the market is available at soundmindinvesting.org.

Welcome back to Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. We're taking your calls and questions. We've got a few lines open. 800-525-7000. Back to the phones to Illinois.

Hi, Joan. Thanks for calling. Go ahead.

Thank you. My first question regards auto debits. I have automatic payments set up from my checking account for monthly bills like utilities, my only credit card, and multiple 403c organizations. What happens when I die? Hmm.

Yeah, specifically with those auto payments, is that right? Yes, sir. Okay. Do you have a will? No. Okay. So you really need a will.

The executor to your estate would take care of your accounts after you die and see the estate through probate to settle any outstanding obligations that you have, you know, pay any debts that you have, and then ultimately help with the facilitation to distribute your assets. Correct. Okay.

Thank you. And second question, what recommendation could you give me for finding a POA for property? Also health, but property mainly. No family. I'm a never married single person with no children. No family members can do this for me. The friend that I asked to be a POA for property declined because of her other responsibilities. Specifically, are there Christian organizations that do this, that you can hire? Yeah, there are some organizations. I mean, basically you could hire a corporate trustee that would help you make these decisions and you could look for one that is faith-based. I would probably reach out to our friends at the National Christian Foundation and ask for a referral. You could also reach out to a godly estate planning attorney who may be willing to serve in that capacity as well. So NCF is the National Christian Foundation. You'll find them at ncfgiving.com. Otherwise, if you're just looking for a godly estate planning attorney who could advise you in these matters, and this is their business, this is what they do, and if you find somebody who shares your values, they would understand what you're looking for and wanting a corporate trustee or power of attorney that would be aligned with your faith values, just head to our website at faithfi.com.

That's faithfi.com. Click find a CKA, and I would search for a certified kingdom advisor or two in your area. When you call them, Joan, just let them know that you're looking for a referral to a godly estate planning attorney.

They'll all have one that they work with, and then that person either could serve in that role or direct you to somebody who could. Excellent. Thank you so very much, Rob.

All right, happy to help. Thanks for your call today. 800-525-7000. We've got just a few lines open today. We'd love to hear from you.

Let's stay in Indiana. Hi, Ann. Thanks for calling. Go ahead.

Yes, I'd like to, I have two questions. The first question is, where can I buy gold? I thought it would be wiser if you buy, like, stock gold. I'm not really familiar. I know that there's physical, but I've heard you before, you know, on the station saying that if you buy physical gold, then you have to store it, and then you have to pay extra to buy it, and then extra to sell it back.

Yes, that's right. So the alternative to that if you didn't want to take physical possession would be one of the gold ETFs. You know, there's a number of them out there, and basically these are just tracking stocks that follow the price of gold. Do you have an advisor that you work with, Ann? We do have a little bit, little money on a Roth account with South Mine Investing.

I think you made a great choice. They could help you with that, actually. They've got a number of articles and could actually make some recommendations specifically on how to add gold to your portfolio through a tracking ETF. What I would do as a client of Sound Mind Investing, I would just reach out to them and say, listen, I want to add some gold to my portfolio. I'd like to do it without taking physical possession, and I'd like to see which exchange-traded funds or mutual funds you'd recommend for me to use, and they will give you their suggestions. So that'd be the direction I'd go. To Weeki Wachee, Florida. James, go ahead.

Yes, sir. I just purchased a $350,000 mortgage. I got a good rate, about five and a half percent, but the issue is I'm 72 years old, and I was wanting to know if you could advise me on some type of life insurance policies. Just in case, if I do pass away before my wife, she would have the burden of the mortgage payment. Is that possible through the mortgage company, or I'd have to get that separately somewhere?

No, you wouldn't want to get it through the mortgage company. That would be terribly expensive, and this is not going to be cheap just because of your age. So you're probably going to want to just look at a 10-year term policy, term policy that would last you until age 82.

At that point, you would just drop it. But if you passed away in the next 10 years, it would cover, if you had a $350,000 death benefit, it would allow her to pay off the mortgage. Beyond that, she would have to use other assets, other income generating assets and social security, hopefully, just to continue on the monthly mortgage payment. But that's going to be the very best way. You're going to want to go out and shop that among all the term insurance carriers to get the best rate. But I'd look at a 10-year term policy to cover the mortgage, as much death benefit as you can get to cover that mortgage that still fits into your budget.

But just simply because of your age, it's not going to be cheap. Right. Can I ask you one more question, please? Sure. Yeah. All right. Great. Okay. So anyway, we have a trust fund, and it's already been set up.

But the problem is I want to get it established. As time has gone on, we wanted to make some changes. And we're kind of skeptical about who we want to be the distributor of the funds and how to divide it up. Because we have six grandchildren and three adult children. And I was thinking, well, should we divide it in percentages to each one? Should we have them in our trust fund? Our will to sell all of our properties that we have and divide it, you know, with the older children, 33%?

Are there any resources that can direct me and give me some? Yeah. I'd be happy to. Let me do this. I'm going to send you a gift.

It's just our gift for you for being on the program today. It's a book by one of my mentors, Ron Blue, who's a popular author of personal finance from a biblical perspective. The book is called Splitting Errors, H-E-I-R-S. I think it's the very best book ever on these very topics. Not the mechanics, the tools, and strategies of estate planning, but the why and the how of wealth transfer. How do you determine how much to leave to the kids? Do you have to give them all an equal amount? For instance, one of the principles in there that he uses is if you love your kids equally, you will treat them uniquely because they're each different in terms of where they're at financially.

And some are married and some aren't, and some are mature spiritually and financially and others aren't. So I think that book will be a great resource, James. So if you stay on the line, we'll get your information and I'll get a copy of Splitting Errors out to you right away.

And it's just our way of saying thanks for being on the show. All right? Thank you, sir. All right. God bless you. Thanks for listening. I hope you'll make plans to join us again next time for another edition of Faith and Finance. Faith and Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.