Am I Ready for My Next Level of Financial Confidence?

I got a question from a listener the other day that said this, Ralph, I feel like I've built some momentum with my money, but now I'm asking myself, what's next? Do I just stay here or is God nudging me to trust him more? I thought that was a great question.And I thought, that's exactly what I'm talking about on today's show. Because, friend, you might be listening right now. You're asking the exact same question. Trust me, I've asked that a million times.And here's the truth. And you need to hear this. Financial peace isn't a finish line. A lot of people think, well, I'm going to pay this debt off.I'm going to make that emergency savings account, I'm going to save for retirement. And you've hit the finish line, you've broken the ribbon and everybody cheers you on. But that's not how financial peace works.It's not some one and done check the box thing. It's truly a lifelong walk with God. And every step you've taken so far, even those messy ones, we talked about that on yesterday's show.Even, even those ones that felt like you were stuck in that quagmire, Shame. Have been preparing you for what's ahead.So on today's show, let's talk about what's ahead and how to really maintain and gain even stronger financial confidence.

This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel, grounded insight and faith driven tips to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence.

Hello there and welcome to Financially Confident Christian. I'm Ralph and this is your daily show where we work to help you become that financially confident Christian.If you're like me, you've hit that wall before. There are times in my life when I thought, I've done enough. Maybe I'm just going to coast now, set up that savings account.I paid off that mountain of credit card debt. Let me tell you, that was a challenge. You might be saying, ralph, I'm right there with you. But then God gently reminded me of something.There's always another level of trust, another step of confidence to walk into. Reminded me of a family that I work with who came to me. They were in debt. I'm talking about they were in serious debt.I mean, they had every card on the planet and they owed everybody. And we sat down, we put together a debt restructuring plan. And I love to say it happened overnight. We fixed it. It didn't take it.It took months and it actually took a couple years. But there came A point when they finally made that last payment, I remember the husband called me, said, ralph, you're never going to believe this.Guess what today is? He said, today is my liberation day. And I was like, that's an awesome feeling, isn't it? They were thrilled. It was a huge victory.But then even before he hung up the call, he said to me, Ralph, he goes, so what's next on the agenda here today? And I said to him, it's great that you asked that question because that's the question we've all got to ask. You're listening right now.You've got to ask that question. Maybe you're one of those folks that don't struggle with finances. And for that I say God bless you. Amen. That is a beautiful thing.But there's always something else you can do. There's always another level of trust that you can place in God. So for this particular crime, we talked about that next step.And for them, it was building that savings account. Yes, they had paid off their debts, which was beautiful, but now they really need to start saving, start putting away for retirement.We talked about investing. I'm getting ready to launch a brand new 30 day series tomorrow on Investing. So stay tuned. We're going to talk about that later in the show.And for this family, we really talked about giving. Because if you've listened to me, you know, I really think that giving is the key success point to really being in financial peace.But the big takeaway was this. Their story didn't end with freedom from debt. That wasn't the end of the story. It was all just part of the journey.But their story expanded into freedom to dream even bigger and dream even bigger with God because he's the central part of this. So I want you to hear this right now. Your financial journey has stages. In the Bible, they talk about seasons.Well, your financial journey is very much a time of seasons. But here's the best part, here's the most important part. God meets you at each one of those seasons.And the Book of Proverbs, chapter 4, verse 18, says this. The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.You might be thinking, Ralph, why'd you pick that one? Well, think about what that morning looks like. It's the start of something new.And I just want to encourage you right now because you might be feeling like, man, I just got past that hurdle, Ralph. I thought it was going to take me forever to get past this. And that new day is done. And that sun is coming up over the rise.And just look to Scripture, because what is it telling you? Your path just keeps getting brighter. You're walking in closer communion with Christ. We should all celebrate that.Here's another thing I want you to hear. Momentum builds confidence to take that next step. Yes, it takes confidence to make that next step.Because maybe it took you a long time to master that. I remember working with that family to get out of debt. It took a lot of time. It took a lot of effort.It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to make better decisions. They had to sacrifice. They had to go without things. But they saw that goal at the end. They saw what that would look like. And that built confidence.And that momentum that we're talking about today, that momentum helps build confidence to take that next step. Let's look at the beautiful verse of Philippians, chapter 1, verse 6.It says, being confident of this, that he who began a good work and you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. See, the Lord has created. He started this good work in you. God isn't finished with you yet. He's building layer by layer and season by season.He's got more for you. There's. Believe it or not, you might be like Ralph, I'm ecstatic right now. I'm out of debt. I've got that emergency savings account.I'm finally putting money into my 401k. I have arrived. But let me tell you right now, God isn't finished with you yet. He's still building you layer by layer.And here's the thing you need to understand. Every step, every single one of these prepares you for that next step.And, and that next step, there's always another level of confidence when you really set your sights on him. So I just want to encourage you today. Don't stop where you are. Yes. Celebrate your progress. You've come a long way.Think about over the last 30 days or 60 days or 90 days, all the things that you're doing now. That is fantastic. That is a beautiful thing. Celebrate, yes, but lean into God. He's got more for you. How about we pray together right now?Lord, we just thank you for every step we've taken. We know that you've been right there alongside of us.We thank you even for the small ones, even those messy ones, those ones that felt like misery when we were going through them. Lord. And Lord, I just ask that You would remind my friend today that You are not finished with them. Lord. Show them the next step of trust, Lord.Build their confidence not in money, because that's the key to the whole thing, Lord. Because build their confidence in You, Lord. Give them confidence. Give them the power. Give them the strength to take that next step, Lord.Build that confidence in them to move forward with You at their side. And we ask this in confidence in the name of Jesus. Amen. Friends, you're ready for the next step. But remember, God has more for you.And while we're talking about more, tomorrow, we're going to shift gears. We're going to step into a brand new series on investing. We're going to talk about what are investments, what are the different pieces of this.So many people have this false sense of investment. So. Well, that's just for rich people. I'm going to debunk that myth right off the jump tomorrow. So make sure you join me for tomorrow's show.And if this episode has encouraged you, hey, if this show has encouraged you, would you share with somebody who needs to hear it? Somebody out there right now is stuck. They're stuck in that cycle of financial shame and they don't know how to break free of this.And you're sharing the show with them could really be that point for them to break free.Just send them to our website, that's financiallyconfidentchristian.com and listen, if you've got a question for me, I would love to answer it on the show. You can go to justaskralph.com and send it in again, that's justaskralp.com and send me your question.I would love to feature on the show and I've got something very special for you. I've been talking about this for the last couple weeks.I just finished writing my third book and I would absolutely love to give you a free copy, a free downloadable copy of that. Just go to this website, go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com becoming again, that's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/Becoming.And you can download a copy of my book. It's called How to Become a Financially Confident Christian.And it's my 30 year collection of all the stories and all the things that I've helped people finally break free of that financial shame and build on that financially confident Christian base. So go get that copy of that book today because there's no financial shame in this. I encourage you right now. Walk in wisdom. I have confidence in you.Have confidence in yourself. Go out there today and be that financially confident Christian. Stay financially savvy. God bless you.Make sure you join me tomorrow as we launch this new investment series, and you have a great day today.