Drawing Closer to God

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Hi, I'm Rob West. We need the bonds of family and friends to help us thrive in this world, but they pale to the significance of your relationship with the Lord. Today I'll give some practical ways you can draw closer to God, and then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is faith and finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Well, I know what you're thinking. What's my relationship with God have to do with finances? Because this is a show about money, right? Yes, but it's also about our faith. And for Christians, faith and our finances have everything to do with our relationship with God.

And the Bible gives us three principles to connect the dots. First, God created everything and therefore he owns everything. Colossians 1 16 reads, God gave us everything we possess. James 1 17 tells us every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. So God owns everything, but he's given us resources to use temporarily as his stewards. Last, God is not distant and detached.

He wants a close relationship with you. James 4 8 reads, Our friend Howard Dayton points out that wisely managing money and the other resources God has blessed us with deepens our fellowship with Christ. Having a close relationship with Jesus is another way to describe what the Bible calls true riches. In Luke 16 11, Jesus indicates that God uses money as a test. He says, Jesus is saying that how you handle money affects your spiritual life. If you manage it well, according to biblical principles, you'll naturally grow closer to Christ. If not, your fellowship with the Lord suffers. So biblical money management is a very practical way to improve your spiritual life, but sometimes things get in the way of that. There are two kinds of disobedience that keep us from handling money God's way and growing closer to him.

The first is passive. It's just plain laziness. Some people don't want to take the time to organize their finances, make a budget, and track their spending.

Doing those things might only take a few hours a month. Still, it's just too much to bother with. Worse, that same person will spend more time than that watching TV every night. As a result, intimacy with God suffers. Another person has a different obstacle to growing closer to God.

It's an active or willful disobedience. For that person, money and possessions compete with Christ. Jesus tells us clearly how that will turn out. In Matthew 6 24, he says, No one can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Then there are people who think they can surrender every part of their lives to Christ except money. They might be quite good at making money, paying their bills on time, saving and investing, but they refuse to give Christ lordship over their finances, to follow all of the Bible's teachings. Maybe they stumble over tithing or other giving to God's kingdom.

They have the resources, but they don't want to do it. Again, their intimacy with Christ suffers. Finally, there's the person who's not following biblical financial principles, but thinks his relationship with the Lord is just fine. To him, we might say, what you don't know will hurt you.

What are you missing out on? You might think finances aren't interfering with your relationship with God, but how would you know? If that's you, perhaps you should commit to the Lord in earnest prayer and then follow through managing your money and possessions his way. You'll find what you need to get started by downloading the free FaithFi app. It will not only give you three ways to set up your budget based on the envelope system, it also has the best Christian financial content out there to help you grow closer to God by following his principles. Do that for three months and see if your relationship with the Lord is more intimate.

We'll be right back. on a well-known biblical parable about a very rich man with a very big problem. Request a copy of the Rich Toward God Study today with your gift of $25 or more by going to faithfi.com slash give 19. That's how many pairs of shoes the average American has in their closet. That's how many pairs of shoes it takes to share health, education, opportunity, and the love of Christ to a child in need in the world. You can play a part in changing the life of a child today through Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls. Visit giveshoestoday.org and find out how you can provide shoes for a child in need.

That's giveshoestoday.org. We're delighted to have you along with us today on Faith and Finance. This is the program each day where we take your calls and questions on anything financial, helping you look through the lens of Scripture, a biblical worldview, as you accept your role as a steward of God's resources and seek to be found faithful in managing those resources.

You see, the role of a steward or a manager is to manage the owner's money with the owner's heart and objectives in mind. Well, that's our role as stewards of God's money. Everything belongs to him. We see that clearly in Scripture, the cattle on a thousand hills.

It's all his. And therefore, whatever has been entrusted to us, whether it's financial resources, even the ability to earn wealth or money comes from God, then we're to be found faithful in managing that. And we can only do that by understanding the heart of the master. So we go back to Scripture and we look at those big ideas, the themes around recognizing stewardship and generosity is supposed to be a hallmark and contentment. And the idea that we're to work hard, that that was asked of us even before the fall, that we were created in the image of God, a worker, a creator, he creates out of nothing, we take his creation and improve it and order it and we're to work as unto the Lord. And then as we receive income, as we receive resources and wealth, we're to then hold that loosely and steward it wisely. Well, we want to help you do that each day on this program with the very practical questions and issues you're facing, whether it's living your lifestyle, giving, giving generously to God's kingdom and to meet the needs of others, owing that which you owe to others. We want to do that in light of principles we find in Scripture and then growing your savings and your investments.

How do you think about that? What's the importance of savings? How can we provide for our families and not slip into a mindset of protection, trying to usurp a role and responsibility that comes only from God, but to save appropriately and in a way that allows us to set a financial finish line and even think about the deployment of our investments in a way that aligns with our values and priorities as Christ followers.

There is a way to do that and that whole space of faith-based investing is just growing and exploding right now in a really positive way with some world-class investments. Well, any of those topics and much more is in play today. So if you have a question, we'd love for you to call right now, 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000.

We look forward to hearing from you. Before we dive into those calls today, in the news today, you can add one more reason for your car insurance going up these days. In addition to higher priced vehicles, repairs and parts, you can add the growing number of uninsured drivers.

That's right. The Insurance Research Council says that the number of uninsured motorists has risen steadily since the onset of COVID in 2020. By 2022, 14% of drivers were uninsured up from 11% the year before. Affordability is often cited as the reason as more folks are deciding to drive uninsured to save. That drives up prices for insured drivers, of course. According to Bank Rate, average annual premiums for full coverage are now almost $2,300. That's a 12% increase over 2023.

J.D. Power says the number of folks shopping for insurance these days is the highest since 2020. Just looking for any kind of savings possible. We've found that this is something you have to do every few years in general because insurers tend to lowball the first year or two for new policyholders and then raise rates, often beginning in the third year. So every three years, probably a decent idea to shop. Not that price is the only consideration, but it is certainly a big one, especially with the increases that we've had lately in auto insurance premiums. The lesson here, of course, you've got to budget enough for car insurance. Really, this is a time that you need to relook at all of your expenses across the board.

And I don't have to tell you that you know everything is up. But this is that time, I think, to kind of dial back in, take a fresh look at your spending plan. If you don't have a budget, let's put one in place.

If you do, let's relook at it. The goal, of course, is to have margin to live on less than you're bringing in. I realize that's harder than ever, but it's critical because that margin is key not only in marital communication to try to avoid conflict, but also to accomplish your goals. Your God-given goals, whether that's increasing your generosity or paying down debt or saving for the future, is only going to happen to the extent you have margin or surplus, something left over at the end of the month. By the way, we can help with that. The Faithfi app, I think, and I'm biased, I realize, but I think it's the very best way for you to build a budget and then stay on it. Julie and I use the Faithfi app in our financial lives. We know exactly where we stand in each budget category by just opening our smartphone and taking a look at each of our digital envelopes, whether it's eating out or entertainment or kids' clothing or whatever it might be, even our vacation fund that builds over time. So if you'd like to download it, check it out today. You can do that on our website.

Just go to faithfi.com, click app, that's faithfi.com and click app. All right, let's dive into some phone calls today. We've got a few lines open. Adam Suddath is in taking our calls and I would love to chat with you. We'd love to get you on the air quickly for your questions.

800-525-7000 is the number to call. Let's begin in Kansas today. Hi, Carol, go ahead. Yes, my kids are buying their first home and I've offered to help them with the closing costs and I didn't know whether it was better to give them a loan, just give them a gift, and what one of those equates to as far as taxes goes.

Yeah, very good. Well, first of all, Carol, I love that you want to bless your kids in this way and assuming you have the ability to do it financially where it doesn't create challenges for you, I would love to see you make it a gift primarily because it eliminates the possibility of damaging the relationship if for some reason your child is unable or willing to repay the loan. I suspect, you know, they would have the desire to, but let's say something went sideways in their financial life, maybe not tomorrow, but further down the road, they're unable to pay you back in the agreed upon manner and timeframe. You know, it just has the potential for it to become a relationship damaging situation and so it's always better when it comes to friends and certainly family just to make it an outright gift if possible. If you ever are making a loan, I would say make it very clear, including in writing, and I realize that sounds formal, but just for clear expectations, just make it real clear how much you're loaning, if there's any interest involved, what the repayment schedule is, and that just avoids any kind of potential miscommunication that could really lead to a damaged relationship. And I would add to that, you need to be ready, willing, and able to make it a gift if at any point they can't repay it, even if you don't decide to do that on the front end. So my best advice, let's just make it a gift if you want to right up front.

As to any tax considerations, there are none. You would be able to give $18,000 in 2024 to any individual, and so you could give $18,000 to the child. Did you say your child is married? Yes. Okay, so you could give $18,000 to each of them, so that's $36,000. And Carol, are you married?

No. Okay, so you could give $18,000 to your child and to the spouse, so that'd be $36,000, and you don't even have to tell the IRS. Now, if you went over $36,000, that's okay. You just have to file the gift tax form. It doesn't create a taxable event. It just chips away at the lifetime amount you can give of $13 million, which you're probably not going to ever get there, so again, no tax owed.

But if you keep it under $36,000, you don't even have to tell the IRS. Does that all make sense? That is fabulous, yes. Thank you very much. Okay, God bless you. Thanks for calling today, Carol.

It's a great question, and you sound like a wonderful mom and mother-in-law. We've got some lines open today here on Faith and Finance. You can call right now, 800-525-7000. We'll do our best to give you biblical wisdom for your financial decisions.

Stay with us. .... .... .... Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. A few lines open, 800-525-7000.

You can call right now with your financial questions. Let's dive back in. We'll go down to Indianapolis. Hi, Larry. Go ahead, sir. Hi, Rob. How are you?

I'm doing great. Thanks for your call. My question is that I just retired about three weeks ago, and I have a mortgage balance left on my house of about $26,000, 15-year term, and we've paid extra payments on it. So we potentially have it paid off in the next three years just by continuing to make our regular payments. Or I have money in a Roth IRA that's enough to pay that $26,000 in just in the mortgage. My interest rate is 2.5% currently, so I'm wondering what I should do.

Keep my money in my Roth or pay off my house? Yeah. Is that money invested currently, Larry, in the Roth in stocks and bonds or something else? It's in a work.

My former employees set it up, and it's invested just in a money market account inside of a Roth 401K. Got it. All right. And you've just retired, so you obviously have the option to roll that out, correct? Correct. I do.

Yeah. You know, my thought is, I mean, first of all, there's the financial side and the non-financial side, so we'll start with the non-financial side. I mean, if you and your wife just feel like you have an absolute conviction, you know, either from the Lord or just, you know, as you've thought about it, you have a conviction to be debt-free, I'd say pay it off and don't look back. You probably won't regret that for a moment, owning your home free and clear. If you're comfortable, though, just continuing to pay this out over the next three years, you obviously have a phenomenal rate at, you know, two and a half percent.

You've accelerated the payoff. I love that you got the 15-year mortgage and not the 30. And you'll be debt-free with still $26,000 or more in a Roth IRA in a couple of years. I kind of like that option better, just purely from a financial standpoint. And so what I would do is I'd roll that Roth 401K out to a Roth IRA, get it invested in a good, balanced mutual fund with a mix of stocks and bonds and just forget about it.

Let it just grow over the next, you know, 10 or 20 or 30 years, however long the Lord has you here. And if you need it, you've got something to tap into. The good news is the Roth, you know, taxation is really advantageous because there's no taxes on any of the growth that you get in the future. And you've got a little bit of an additional nest egg available to you. And you certainly shouldn't have any problem, you know, offsetting the two and a half percent a year if you get it invested and you don't even have to, you know, offset the two and a half percent plus cover the taxes because there are no taxes inside the Roth IRA. So I think my first choice would be roll that over and just pay out the mortgage as it is. But again, my caveat is if you and or your wife just have a conviction to be debt free, then I would say that trumps the financial side.

Does that make sense? It sure does. And I, I have a self-directed Roth IRA at Schwab and that account has dividend, only dividend and stocks in it. And that's yielding about, oh, seven and a half, eight percent annually. And my disbelief is, well, just take that money from my employer under that Roth and roll it right over, like you said, and, and just keep letting it grow, you know? Absolutely. I love that idea. I think that makes complete sense.

So that would be the direction I would advocate for, for sure. Okay. Well, thanks for confirming that. That's a much appreciated and always appreciate your show. Well, thank you, Larry. I appreciate you. Thanks for being on the program today, sir. God bless you.

Let's go out to Las Cruces, New Mexico. Hi, Mary. How can I help? Oh, thank you for taking my call. We have big problems. My daughter was in the hospital and had surgeries. The hospital was pressuring her to pay. So she paid it off with her credit card.

Then she lost her job. And I think part of the problem is that she's bipolar. Well, last week we got a summons for her to appear in court. The bank is the credit card is taking her to court and we don't know what to do.

Yeah, I'm so sorry to hear about this. You know, your daughter does need to appear in court for the hearing. I'm not an attorney, so you could certainly seek legal counsel and that would be never a bad idea. But at the very least, she needs to show up in court. She needs to be prepared to show her financial situation in writing to the court. And then she would want to ask to be put on a payment plan. And she should be able to show just how much she can afford in a monthly payment. Does she have the ability if she was on a payment plan to do something every month toward paying this off? I think so, but I'm not real sure because she keeps to herself, but we don't know exactly what all she's doing.

I understand. Well, I would just advise her that she needs to show up. If she fails to appear, a judgment is likely going to be made against her for the debt. And at that point, once she has the judgment, then she may be able to get on a payment plan. She could try to have filed to have it vacated or removed, or she could file bankruptcy to have it discharged.

But that would, of course, damage your credit. And then there's just the obligation part of this that I think, you know, she's made a commitment to repay it. So I think the best plan would be to show up and make her case to the court, trying for a payment plan that fits her budget as best as possible. And in the future, I think the key is, you know, let's not pay off medical bills with credit cards.

But I realized that was a decision that she made. But the financial office of the medical provider in the future is far more likely to negotiate payments or a settlement than would be a credit card company. So you'd always rather be working directly with them instead of now she's working directly with the credit card company instead of the medical provider, which is just a little more challenging. So I think option one is find an attorney who could kind of advise her and maybe you work with your church on that. But at the very least, be there in court for the hearing, be prepared to show in writing her financial situation, be able to demonstrate what she can pay moving forward toward this every month and see if she can get on a payment plan where she's in. She's in compliance and working towards something that the court has agreed to and ultimately paying this off perhaps at a reduced amount.

But hopefully she'll take your counsel and allow you to walk alongside her and this will be a learning experience. God bless you, Mary. Thanks for your call today.

Well, that's going to do it for us today. I'm so thankful for your calls. What a privilege it is that you invite us into your stories each day as we guide you back to God's word and encourage you to apply the wisdom we find in scripture to your financial decisions and choices. And let me invite you to become a Faith Five Partner.

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That's faithfi.com and click Give. Well, folks, we hope you come back and join us next time. On behalf of my entire team here at Faith Five, including today's broadcast team, Taylor Stanrich, Amy Rios and Chad Clark, I'm Rob West. Looking forward to having you back here next time as we apply God's wisdom to your financial decisions and choices here on Faith and Finance. Until then, may God bless you. Bye bye. Faith and Finance is provided by Faith Five and listeners like you.