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Is My Income the Real Reason I'm Stressed About Money? · Becoming Financially Confident

• 0:00
  Ralph: Let's face it.
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  You've been doing amazing work.
• 0:02
  You've been managing your spending, you've been tackling debt, and
• 0:05
  you've been building that savings.
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  But maybe just maybe deep down, you feel like the real problem is simply
• 0:12
  that you don't earn enough money.
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  You're thinking maybe, hey, that's the issue.
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  Does that feel weigh on you making other financial steps feel less impactful?
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  Well, stick with me because we're getting into exactly how
• 0:25
  to address that on today's show.
• 0:41
  Hey there.
• 0:41
  Welcome back to your Daily Financially Confident Christian.
• 0:44
  I'm Ralph and it's incredible to walk alongside you.
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  This show is all about how to help you answer that question, how can I become
• 0:53
  a financially confident Christian?
• 0:55
  And today we're continuing our series, on dealing with the stress of money worries.
• 1:00
  And a lot of people have stress about money and this.
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  Series is all about how to break that down, and we've covered
• 1:06
  a great deal of ground on the spending side of your finances.
• 1:10
  We talked about budgeting.
• 1:11
  We've discussed tracking.
• 1:13
  We've given you ideas for saving and tackling debt and
• 1:16
  actually managing your credit.
• 1:19
  And listen, these are fundamental steps to gaining control and finding
• 1:23
  that peace that you're looking for.
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  But today we're gonna shift our focus.
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  We're gonna get to the other side of the equation.
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  We're gonna talk about income.
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  We're gonna look at the top of the model.
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  'cause we've gotta look at both sides.
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  'cause here's the truth, many people, that feeling that their
• 1:38
  income is too low or just too unstable is a major source of stress.
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  It can feel like no amount of budgeting can actually fix it.
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  So let's ask this question today.
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  Is my income the real reason I'm stressed about money?
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  And here's the more important part, and this is the part I really wanna
• 1:57
  share today, is what can I do about it?
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  Well, maybe you look at your budget and you realize, Ralph, listen
• 2:03
  dude, even if I cut back everywhere.
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  Everywhere I possibly can.
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  Wow.
• 2:08
  There just isn't enough money to go around to cover my needs, to pay off my
• 2:13
  debt quickly, like you talk about, or to save for my goals and listen, I'm putting
• 2:17
  my best efforts into this budgeting, or perhaps the stress comes from income
• 2:23
  that's unstable or unpredictable.
• 2:25
  We're actually gonna talk about that on tomorrow's show, so that's
• 2:27
  a little preview of tomorrow, how to handle your income when it fluctuates.
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  That feeling of income inadequacy or that feeling of income instability.
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  I hear you.
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  That's a major stressor, and it leads to these deep feelings of
• 2:42
  being trapped or just this absolute fear of being unable to get ahead.
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  But here's the thing I want you to hear today.
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  Income is definitely a factor in financial health.
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  It just is.
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  And stress often comes from how income is managed, as well as the amount.
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  Here's the truth, and I need you to hear this today and maybe something you're
• 3:04
  not ready to hear, or not something you're really actually ready to accept.
• 3:09
  Two people with the same income, the same income, one person A, person B, have the
• 3:14
  same income, can have vastly different levels of financial stress and financial
• 3:20
  stability based on their spending, and here's the key to it, based on their
• 3:23
  spending and their savings habits.
• 3:27
  That said, honestly, assessing your income and seeking to be a good steward
• 3:30
  of it is absolutely a biblical concept.
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  So this is something that we need to be aware of if we're going to really be
• 3:38
  those financially confident Christians.
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  And I wanna share this with you because I don't know if you hear this everywhere.
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  I know very wealthy people who are always stressed about money and some
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  of the poorest folks that I know.
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  By normal, what we call money standards are some of the most content and
• 3:55
  happy people that you will ever meet.
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  So we need to remember that well before we even get into this discussion,
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  God is the ultimate provider and he often provides to us through our work.
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  he provides for us and he gives us opportunities.
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  The Bible encourages us to be diligent in our labor and wise handling its fruit.
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  Look at the book of Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 23.
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  I love this one.
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  It says this.
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  It says, all hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
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  See if we're just gonna talk about something, where are we gonna end up?
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  You're gonna end up in poverty.
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  It's work that brings a profit.
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  And look at Proverbs chapter 13, verse 11.
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  It highlights that steady, that diligent effort.
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  This is what it says, and I've used this on the show many times.
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  Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money
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  little by little, makes it grow.
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  There's profit in that.
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  Think about that dishonest money.
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  If you make it dishonestly, it's gonna dwindle away.
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  But what does the Bible say?
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  But whoever gathers money, little by little, little by little, one step
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  at a time, your daily show here, little by little, makes it grow.
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  So that needs to be our focus.
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  See, God calls us to be diligent in our work, and He trusts us.
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  He trusts us.
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  Think about this.
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  The Lord of the universe trusts us to manage the income that he provides us,
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  and he wants us to manage it wisely.
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  And I truly believe this with all of my being.
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  Stress comes from not being a good steward of the income that we do have.
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  And I know you didn't want to hear that.
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  Or maybe from the lack of faith in seeking opportunities while
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  we're working diligently, but now let's change the focus.
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  Let's talk about, what can we do.
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  When you feel stressed about your income, how do you move from feeling trapped by
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  it to actually proactively addressing it in a way that reduces that stress?
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  Well, I've got a solution and I'm gonna call it my most critical solution, and
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  it starts with prayer And then I want you to diligently assess your current
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  income and wisely listen to me wisely.
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  Explore realistic, ethical opportunities to manage it better,
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  or potentially increase it.
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  But then I want you to do one more thing.
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  I talked about this a minute ago, trusting God to guide your efforts,
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  and I want you to hear me clear.
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  This isn't about chasing riches.
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  That can take you to a really dark place.
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  It is about being a faithful steward of your God given capacity
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  to earn and manage resources.
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  So let me give you your one action step for today.
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  Here's your one vital action step that I want you to take today,
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  and it's specifically focused on proactively addressing your income.
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  The first thing you've gotta do is honestly assess your income.
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  Look at where your income is right at this moment.
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  We've done this with our budget.
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  We've done this with the, the financial snapshot that we
• 6:47
  talked about a week or two ago.
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  You got to get a clear understanding of how much money is coming in each month.
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  Now, I want you to start thinking about that in terms of after
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  taxes, because that's the money that you can actually spend.
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  It's gonna be the money after taxes, after your deductions for health
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  insurance and all those kind of things.
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  And if your income fluctuates.
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  And we'll talk about that more in tomorrow's show.
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  I don't have time to handle it today.
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  But I need you to create a realistic average or use the lowest
• 7:12
  predictable amount for planning.
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  So start by understanding what your income is.
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  Then I want you to take like 15 or 20 minutes to just open the door to
• 7:21
  brainstorming ways that you could realistically and ethically manage your
• 7:26
  income more effectively, or maybe look at other opportunities to make more income.
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  We were out with my, my youngest son yesterday, and he
• 7:34
  was talking about the stress.
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  He wants to buy a new home and listen, a lot of us have been there.
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  I. I said to him, I said, well, where are you spending your money?
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  Now?
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  Of course, he didn't wanna go down that conversation road, so
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  we didn't really push it too much.
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  But I said, you know, the other thing you can do is look at
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  adding more income to the, to, to your, to your what's coming in.
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  See, you can do either one.
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  So if you're in this brainstorming series, one of the things you
• 7:57
  might wanna consider is look at the average salaries for your job.
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  Maybe you're being underpaid and you need to have that difficult conversation
• 8:04
  with your boss and say, listen.
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  I'm being underpaid.
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  If you look at what everyone else is doing, I'm being underpaid.
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  Maybe there's a new skill that you could develop.
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  Maybe that seal could lead you to advancement or to another side hustle,
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  like I talked about with my son.
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  You can make some extra money.
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  maybe you can take your existing skills, your hobbies, and actually put
• 8:22
  those into work to make some money.
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  One of the things I talk about on the show routinely is maybe selling
• 8:27
  items that you don't need any longer.
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  Or maybe we gotta get back to that expense side.
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  Maybe you need to refine your budget further to free up some cash.
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  So once you've done that brainstorming, I don't wanna overwhelm you.
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  I just want you to pick one specific small actionable step that you're gonna take
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  this week related to that income side.
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  Again, that might be research and average salaries for your role.
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  Looking for a specific side hustle idea, or like I said, identifying one skill
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  to develop or list three items to sell.
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  Then I want you to just close out with prayer and just say to God, God, listen,
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  I really wanna make things better.
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  What?
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  What can you show me on my income side or my work side?
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  And just ask God for wisdom.
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  Ask him for guidance and ask him to open the right doors according
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  to his will for your provision.
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  And I'm gonna tell you right now, If you do this, it's going to shift
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  your focus from this passive worry.
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  You're gonna move away from that passivity, and you're gonna be
• 9:24
  proactive and you're gonna look for faith-based exploration.
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  it might even open up the door to managing your existing income better, or you
• 9:31
  might find a way to make more money.
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  And in the end, this is one of the biggest benefits of this.
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  It's going to align your work and your financial efforts with
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  principles of diligent stewardship.
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  Well, let's pray together now.
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  Father God, we just thank you for being our ultimate provider.
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  And for the ability you've given us to work.
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  And Lord, we just confess that stress, the stress that we feel
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  often arises from feeling like our income is insufficient or unstable.
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  And Lord, we ask you to help us be diligent and help us to be wise in how
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  we manage the income that you provide us.
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  And Lord, we just ask you to grant us clarity as we
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  assess our current situation.
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  Give us wisdom, give us discernment as we explore potential opportunities
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  to manage or increase our income.
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  And Lord, we just ask that you would guide our steps and open up doors
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  according to your perfect will.
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  And we ask that you would help us to trust you for our
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  provision as we work faithfully.
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  And we just ask this with confidence.
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  In Jesus' name, Amen.
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  Listen, your income is a resource from God to be stewarded wisely.
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  And if you're proactive in assessing it and exploring
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  opportunities, it's not a chase.
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  It's not that you're chasing more money.
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  It's about faithful management of the talents and abilities
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  that God has given you.
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  So I'm gonna encourage you again, take one action, step today.
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  Take one action step this week.
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  And if addressing your income feels like a necessary part of dealing with your
• 11:00
  money, stress, I'm gonna encourage you, share this episode with someone else
• 11:03
  who might be right where you are, who's going through this same type of stress.
• 11:08
  this show could be a real godsend for them.
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  You can find resources and connect with their show at our website
• 11:14
  that's at financially confident christian.com, and I've got a great
• 11:18
  free gift for you today for the first 100 listeners who go to financially
• 11:23
  confident christian.com/master.
• 11:26
  I'm gonna give you a free copy of my book.
• 11:27
  It's called Mastering Your Finances Now.
• 11:30
  It's not some big long read.
• 11:31
  It's quick, but it's powerful and it's designed to give you that starting
• 11:35
  point to help you break that cycle of financial shame and step into confidence.
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  Again, go to financially confident christian.com/master
• 11:45
  and get your free copy today.
• 11:46
  Now, as I talked about.
• 11:47
  Tomorrow we'll be talking about a specific income challenge, and that's
• 11:51
  how to manage your money effectively.
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  When your income isn't predictable or consistent,
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  that's one you don't wanna miss.
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  So make sure you join me now.
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  Let's all go out there and be financially confident.
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  Christians, you can do this.
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  I have confidence in you.
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  Have confidence in yourself.
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  I encourage you today to stay financially savvy.
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  God bless you, and you have a great day today.