How Do I Honor God with Money When I’m Confused and in Debt?

Have you ever prayed over your finances and still felt completely confused? Yeah, you want to honor God, but you're still in debt. You feel behind, and every decision feels loaded. Should I give? Should I save?Should I attack the dead? And it seems like no matter what you choose, you feel like you're disappointing someone. Friend, God is not trying to trap you. He's not grading you.So today on the show, I want to clear the fog and simplify what it actually means to honor him with your money, even when things aren't perfect. Spoiler alert. Things aren't always perfect. Gonna be a great show. Oh, we. Hello, friend. Ralph Estep Jr. Here.Welcome to Financially Confident Christian, where every day we work to break that cycle of financial shame and live in confidence. So many of us live in this financial shame, but I really want to help you get to a point of confidence.So today we're going to talk about how to honor God financially when you're confused and maybe still in debt. Which leads me to today's listener question.Got this listener question the other day said, Ralph, I want my finances to honor God, but I'm paralyzed by confusion about what that actually means. Do I give when I'm in debt? Do I save when other people have needs?I'm trying to be faithful and wise simultaneously, and I feel like I'm failing at both. How do I make decisions with peace, instead of this constant guilt and constant uncertainty?I'm desperate for clarity on what God actually wants from me. You know, when I got that question, I thought, I love the way you ended that, because you answered your own question.What does God actually want from me? And that's where we have to start, because in my opinion, God honors faithful stewardship more than financial perfection.I think so many of us are striving for this financial perfection.We see the people around us who are saving and have got money in retirement and doing this and doing that, and we think that we've got to run their race. But you need to run your race. You got to be faithful in what God has given you. So how do we get there?Well, you got to start with integrity, not intensity. Honoring God begins with honesty. And this may be some painful honesty, especially if you're in debt. You got to know what you owe.I remember at one point, it's a hard thing to talk about. I was in debt up to my ears, and I just put it off. I would make the minimum payments, but I never really wrote it down.And I knew part of me, I had to put it on paper. I had to know what I owed, I had to know what that real number was. I had to know what I was earning, had to look at my real income.And listen, you better know what you're spending too. All those things play in congruence with each other. And you can create that. You can reduce that confusion when you create clarity.And listen, friend, God isn't asking for dramatic gestures. He doesn't expect it. Listen, God already knows what you're going to do. He wants to support you. He wants to be. To help you.He just wants you to be faithful. What he's already given you. So the first thing you've got to do is prioritize stability.If you're in debt and you're unstable, your first assignment is stabilization. You gotta do that first. Like when you go to the er, first thing they do is they stabilize the patient. You gotta look at your finances the same way.Cover your essentials. Food, clothing, shelter, transportation. We talk about that on the show all the time. Those are the essentials.You got to figure out how to pay those first. Once you do that. Yeah. Build a small emergency buffer, but stay current on all of your obligation.Biblical wisdom, values, order and peace grows in structure. Well, let's get to the point at hand today. Giving, giving is all about being intentional. We talked about this the other day.God loves a cheerful giver. So give with intention, not guilt. I've had people say to me, you know what, Ralph?I got to keep giving because giving is my punishment for being in debt. It's not, it's not some magical transaction with God. Well, if I give, I. I hear clown preachers on TV and on the radio. Hear this all day.Oh, well, I'm a prosperity preacher. If you give, God's going to reward that tenfold. I can't find anywhere in the scripture that says that.Not once in the scripture does God say, you're going to make a transact man. I'm going to mesmerize. I'm going to fix your finances. That's a lie.If you choose to give while you're in debt, which I encourage you to do, I think it's a good thing to do. Let it be thoughtful and let it be sustainable. Hey, maybe $5 a week or $2 a week.But small amounts given consistently from a willing heart, honor God. Guess what? He sees your heart. If your heart is right. Now, God, I want to do this, but you know what's going on. My finances.God doesn't measure the size of your giving. He measures your posture in giving. He looks right at your heart. So yes, give, but pay down your debt steadily.The idea of debt reduction is stewardship because that's really what it is. It's stewarding the money that God and the resource that God has given you better. You're saying to God, listen, I'm taking responsibility.You don't need to attack it with panic. Be consistent. Be consistent in that reduction because that reflects discipline and humility. God loves discipline and humility.And finally, walk humbly, not perfectly. I've been doing accounting work for since I was 8 years old, now I'm 53. You can do the math. You're not going to get every decision right.And that's okay. It's okay to make mistakes. I start to show every day talking about living in financial shame. Guess what? You know why I say that?Because we've all lived in financial shame. We've all made bad financial decisions. I have a degree in accounting. I've made bad financial decisions. It's okay.But honoring God financially means seeking wisdom, making thoughtful decisions, and yes, correcting course when it's necessary. It's not about performing flawlessly. It's really about that day in and day out decision to be faithful over the flesh.Because in the end, God sees your heart. And if you've got a heart for Jesus, he sees that. So here's your win for today.I want to encourage you today to choose one aligned action maybe for you. Review your number, see what's coming in, see what's going out, and have that what we call come to Jesus moment about the reality on the ground.Maybe you make one extra debt payment, you've got some money sitting aside, say here's what I'm going to do, or give one small intentional gift. I don't want you to do all three of these. I just want you to pick one. Because what I've learned in my career is clarity comes from movement.Clarity is so very important. Well, let's get some biblical clarity. Let's go to the book of Micah, chapter 6, verse 8. Again, Micah 6. 8. He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. There's your charge.God's requirement is faithful humility and wise action, not financial perfection. Let's pray together. Lord, we all want to honor you. And there are times when we feel so overwhelmed. So Lord, right now, remove the confusion from us.Remove that feeling of false guilt and replace it with clarity and peace from you, Lord, help us to act justly in our obligations. Love mercy in our giving, Lord, and help us to walk humbly as we do rebuild.Guide our decisions, Lord, calm our hearts and remind us that your faithfulness is more important than flawlessness. And we ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Friend, I want you to hear this.You, you can honor God right where you are, right where you're at right now, at this moment, not where you hope to be, right here where you are. And if you've got something you want to share, I'd love to hear from you. Just head over to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail.I want to hear from you today. Take a few minutes and just let me hear from you. I want to hear your voice. You always hear my voice. I want to hear your voice.We'll put that link to that in the show notes, but again, it's financiallyconfidentchristian.Com/voicemail. Thank you so much for joining me today. I just want to encourage you stay financially savvy.May God bless you and you have a truly great day today.