Building Your Investment Confidence: From Fear to Faith?

Ralph, I know I should invest, but honestly, I'm scared.

How do I build confidence without making a huge mistake?

What a great question.

And I thought to answer this question, let's look at some statistics.

And Abby pulled these together for us today.

And these are really eye opening to me.

42% of US adults say their biggest reason for not investing is fear.

But what does that fear look like?

It's the fear losing money.

And that fear keeps them stuck on the sidelines instead of growing their money.

Interesting statistic, isn't it?

Here's another one.

40% of Americans don't invest in the stock market often because they don't feel confident or they don't know where to start.

Hey, I see a trend, fear confidence and don't know where to start.

And listen to this one.

Among younger adults, 58% say investing feels intimidating or overwhelming.

And here's the interesting part.

Even though they know it's important for their future, clearly a disconnect there.

And more than half of the Americans, 50% said they lack confidence in making investments.

They want guidance, which shows how common these fears really are.

See, here's the thing.

I'm going to start off with today's show with fear is normal.

But I need you to hear this.

Fear won't grow your money and you want confidence.

Confidence comes from taking small steps.

Here's the truth.

Fear keeps many people out of investing confidence.

A lot of people think that's arrogance, but that's not what we're going to talk about today.

Confidence is faith, confidence is knowledge, and confidence is steady practice.

So let's have a chat about finding that confidence on today's show.

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.

Welcome to Financially Confident Christian.

I'm Ralph.

Let me ask you a question as we get started today.

Has fear ever stopped you from investing?

If it has, let me tell you right now, you're not alone in that.

But a good news about this is fear doesn't have to win.

With God's wisdom and some small steps.

And we'll talk about some small steps today you can go from doubt to confidence.

You might be saying, okay, Ralph, well tell me why you think you can make this work.

The truth is I've helped thousands of clients move from confusion and fear and listen, a lot of people have confusion and fear, especially when you're younger.

You don't know what you're getting into.

But I've helped people Move confidently into financial habits that work for them.

And listen, I'm not just telling other people how to do it.

I've done this myself.

I've learned step by step that you can't do this overnight.

Which leads me to a story.

I remember meeting with someone and this person was very fear adverse.

They were really scared.

They didn't understand the market and they just left their money sitting in a savings account.

And interest rates had gotten really low.

And it was just out of fear.

They didn't know what to do.

They were earning almost no interest on their savings account.

They came down, we sat down, we talked about things, and they took a small, steady step into investing.

Now, it wasn't all their money at once.

I wouldn't have invested, I wouldn't have advised them to do that.

They began with just a small amount.

And as they learned more about the markets, as they learned more about investing, they had a peace that came upon them instead of panic.

And I love what Benjamin Franklin said, one of the founders of the United States.

This is perfect.

He says an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

See, we always think about investments, how much they're going to pay in interest.

But what is Ben Franklin telling us?

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

So, friend, let's talk about fear and confidence.

This is what we really need to talk about on today's show.

If you're like most people, fear shows up when you don't understand something or you don't understand what's in front of you.

It's kind of like walking into a dark room.

You walk into that dark room and our minds fill in the blanks.

We're assuming there's something bad in there.

We always assume the worst case scenario.

That's what fear does to us.

Fear grabs a hold of us what we don't know.

But here's the truth.

I've said this on the show many times.

Fear thrives in the unknown.

See, when you don't know what to expect, that's fearful.

But let me tell you the other side of that.

Clarity kills fear.

So if you want to get rid of fear, you got to move to clarity.

When you stop guessing and you start learning, guess what happens.

Fear loses its grip.

Here's another thing we talked about in the beginning of the show.

Uncertainty.

A lot of people think uncertainty.

Well, that means I'm failing, Ralph.

No, it's not failure.

It's an invitation.

It's really an invitation to grow in knowledge and to grow in trust.

And that growth leads to confidence.

Now I'm going to tell you right now, haven't experienced this for 30 years.

Confidence doesn't come all at once.

It's kind of like a muscle.

I go to the gym every morning and I work out my muscles.

I don't get strong in one big workout, but day in and day out, that steady training, that's what gives me confidence.

That's what gives me strength.

And I have those small wins.

I have that day where I was in the gym this morning, and, man, things are really going well.

And every little step builds that strength.

And every little, small victory stacks into confidence.

I look at it every week, I put a little bit more weight on the things building that confidence.

So don't wait until you feel ready.

Because the truth is, if you wait to feel ready, you're never going to get there.

I'm going to encourage you today, take that small step in front of you.

That's how confidence is born.

That's the way I started in the gym.

When I went down to the gym the first day in my basement, I wasn't sure what I'd be able to do, but I was able to start just small day in and day out.

And see, that's where faith comes in.

And that's why I do this show.

It's all about faith.

See, faith shifts our fear into trust.

It reminds us that God is in control.

Hey, when you fear what's in the dark, just remember, even walking into that dark room, you're not going in there alone.

God is with you always.

Now, I'm going to tell you this because a lot of people say, well, Ralph, if you have faith, you're not going to have any questions.

I disagree with that.

Faith doesn't erase every question, but it does reframe it.

Now, let's get to that big question.

What if I fail?

But what if God uses this for good?

See, because here's the truth.

God's track record is flawless.

Think about that for a second.

He's been faithful before.

He's been faithful in my life.

Let me ask you, has he been faithful in yours?

Well, guess what?

He's going to be faithful again.

And fear makes us focus on our limits.

But faith points us back to God's power.

And here's the last thing.

It's never about being perfect.

A lot of people think, well, if I'm going to go into investing, Ralph, I might lose.

Yes, you might.

It's not about being perfect.

It's about being consistent.

It's about being steady.

And yes, it's about Being faithful.

It's that showing up again and again and again.

Because see, listen to this perfectionism myth.

That's what keeps you on the sidelines.

That's what keeps you in fear.

You fear that you're not going to be perfect.

But consistency is where transformation happens.

And every little step, that day in and day out, step, even make those little investments, creates momentum.

And that momentum allows God to multiply it.

And remember this, God values faithfulness over flawlessness.

And he works through that to get you steady obedience.

So don't let fear stop you.

Take that step today.

Learn what you can and trust God with the rest.

And I want to give you some scripture today because his promise is clear.

Look at the Book of Isaiah, chapter 41, verse 10.

He says this, do not fear, for I'm with you.

I will strengthen you and help you.

Well, friend, that's your confidence today.

Why about we pray together right now?

Father, we come to you right now and we're fearful about things we don't understand.

We're afraid of the dark Lord.

We're afraid of what we don't know.

And we just ask you right now to give us wisdom.

Replace that fear with faith, Lord, and help us to strengthen our courage by taking those small steps.

And right now we just ask for steady confidence.

Help us to not feel that need for perfection all the time.

Help us to be aware of your love for us and aware that you're there for us always.

And we ask this in confidence in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

All right, well, let's get to our one action item for today.

Here's what I want you to do.

We're going to break that feeling of fear and we're going to move into a small step of confidence.

I want you to just take one investing step that you've been afraid of.

Think of that thing that you've been afraid of.

Maybe it's opening that investment account.

Maybe it's increasing that contribution that you're putting in your retirement account or into your 401k and ask this question.

That small step can build big confidence.

So think about that.

Take that one small step today.

And remember, even the smallest step of obedience can open up the doors to God's blessings.

And I want to encourage you today, go out there today and be a financially confident Christian.

Stay financially savvy.

God bless you.

And I'll see you tomorrow on the show.