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What Are My True Values, and How Do They Guide My Spending? · Becoming Financially Confident

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  Ralph: Ever look at your bank statement and wonder, Hey,
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  where did all the money go?
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  Why some purchases feel great and others, well, they just leave you empty.
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  What if every dollar you spent was a direct reflection of
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  what you truly value in life?
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  Here's the truth.
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  It can be Stick with me today.
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  I'm gonna help you do just that on today's show.
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  Hey there, and welcome back to your Daily Financially Confident Christian.
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  I'm Ralph, and it's so great that you've chosen to give me a little bit of your
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  time again, today we continue our journey in answering that big question, how can I
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  become a financially confident Christian?
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  And we're strongly building a foundation in our new series called
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  Beyond the Budget, finding Financial Freedom Through Intentional Living.
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  We're really talking about intentional living.
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  Yesterday we explored contentment and gratitude, and I really
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  hope you caught that episode.
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  If you didn't, I'm gonna encourage you to go check it out.
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  And today we're gonna ask a new question.
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  This one gets a little deep.
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  So be ready.
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  What are my true values and how do they actually guide my spending?
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  See, I think it's so important that we start to understand our true values
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  and how they guide your spending.
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  ' cause maybe you spend things on, things that don't really matter to you.
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  I feel that way many times.
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  Maybe for you it's a, a closet of clothes you never wear.
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  Hey, I'm guilty of that sometimes.
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  My wife said to me one time, she goes, Ralph, on the second floor of the house,
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  you've got a bunch of clothes up there.
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  You never even look at.
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  Guilty is charged.
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  Or maybe for you it's subscriptions that you barely use.
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  You know, you download a subscription or you, you buy an
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  app and you just never open it.
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  I think about on my own iPhone, how many apps I have that
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  I just never even look at.
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  And a lot of times the issue is stuff just creates stress.
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  We add more stuff.
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  Trying to fill a void, trying to, trying to fill this emptiness and all that stuff
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  does is create more stress, not joy.
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  It kind of, it makes you wanna embrace a minimalist life.
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  And the truth is, when we really examine our spending, we spend by habit.
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  Well, we always do that.
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  That's what we do.
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  We do this, we do that.
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  It's a habit.
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  Or maybe we spend by desire, oh, I want to do this, I want to do that.
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  Or a lot of times, and I think this is one of the big problems we have right
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  now, is we spend based on social pressure.
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  But notice I didn't say in any of that we spend based on our values,
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  because a lot of times your spending doesn't reflect your values.
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  When your spending doesn't reflect your values, that's a disconnect and
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  that disconnect, to be honest with you, a hundred percent truthful, it
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  causes guilt because you're guilty.
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  I'm not spending on the things that I truly value.
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  It causes regret because the money's gone in.
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  You're thinking, Hey, but what if I done this?
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  What if I did that?
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  What if I was more charitable?
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  What if I helped my, my family?
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  The trifecta of this, it causes stress.
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  See, because right now as you're listening, you're probably
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  saying, Ralph, I work hard.
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  I truly do.
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  I put in the hours, man.
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  I put in the reps. You work hard, but your money doesn't serve your purpose.
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  But here's the thing, and I want you to hear this loud and clear today.
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  Every dollar that you spend, Is a vote for what you value.
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  I'm gonna say that again 'cause it's so important that you hear me today.
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  Every dollar that you spend is a vote for what you value.
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  Now you might be saying, great.
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  Okay, that sounds good, Ralph.
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  But here's the problem.
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  If you don't define these values, society's gonna define them for you.
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  And oftentimes, if we're honest with ourselves, we allow society
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  to, to really define our values.
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  In the end, God calls us to live intentionally.
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  I talk about intentionality is almost a whole point of this new
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  series, and God calls us to live intentionally and to steward wisely.
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  Look at the book of Proverbs.
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  Open up the chapter four verse 23.
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  It says this, above all else, guard your heart for everything
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  you do, flows from it.
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  Now that's impactful.
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  If you think about that above all else, above anything else
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  that you do, guard your heart
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  for everything you do, flows from it.
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  Your money flows from your heart because it's something that you do.
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  Right?
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  And when our values align with our financial choices, when we really
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  think about this is what my values are, and we align those with our
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  financial decisions, with our spending choices, then money becomes a useful
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  tool for joyful purpose-filled living.
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  'cause in the end this is about stewardship, not restriction.
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  A lot of people say, oh, Ralph, here he goes again.
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  He cannot talk about where I can't spend money and I shouldn't spend
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  my, it's not what I'm saying at all.
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  But when you align your values with your spending, that tool now becomes
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  a joyful purpose-filled living, and you're able to live in abundance,
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  not restriction, and rather than stress and want and guilt and fear.
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  You live in a place of joy and clarity and peace, and hey,
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  isn't that what you want today?
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  So I've sold you on that.
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  Now you're saying, Ralph, what can we do?
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  How, how do, how do you spend in alignment with your true values?
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  Well, here's where the solution starts.
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  It starts by identifying your core values and aligning your spending to match them.
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  And then you've got to just say, look, I'm gonna let my values guide every
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  single financial decision that I make.
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  And now I'm gonna tell you how to do that.
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  Here's your action step for today.
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  I want you to identify your top three to five core values.
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  Spend about 10 or 15 minutes just reflecting on what are your true core
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  values, what matters most to you?
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  Is it family?
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  Is family important to you?
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  How about your faith?
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  You're listening to this, I bet faith is important to you.
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  How about your health?
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  A lot of people say, we hate with health.
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  Health, I don't have anything.
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  Maybe it's freedom.
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  It's the ability to not be chained or in that, in those cycle of financial shame.
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  As I talked about, maybe one of your values is generosity, and I just want you
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  to, to spend about 10 or 15 minutes and just write three to four or five of those.
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  Write them down.
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  For example, we talked about faith.
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  Maybe, you know, staying spiritually connected and trusting God's
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  provision is important to you.
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  If it's family, maybe prioritizing time and and caring for loved
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  ones is important to you.
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  Maybe maintaining your physical and mental wellbeing is important to you,
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  or having margin and flexibility and not being controlled by money or as I
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  mentioned, generosity, helping others through giving and through service.
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  Just write 3, 4, 5 of those things down and really put them pen to
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  paper, and I want you to do that.
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  I want you to go back, and this is the hard part, review your recent spending.
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  I'm gonna do what I call the values test.
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  Look at your tracker, look at your budget and ask yourself this
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  very difficult, deep question.
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  Does this spending truly reflect my values?
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  As an example, let's say you're, you're, you're all about health, but
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  then you look at your spending and you spent $180 on fast food last month.
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  I don't know about you, but I don't think that's very healthy.
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  I'm not judging you.
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  Your value is health.
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  And then you went and spent $180 on fast food last month.
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  And if you, if you're honest with yourself, that doesn't align with your
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  desire to feel better and live longer.
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  Now, maybe one of your values is generosity.
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  It's a great value to have, but your budget shows no giving
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  to churches or any causes.
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  You're generous, where if generosity matters to you, you may wanna reallocate
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  some of that discretionary spending.
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  So rather than doing the things that you're doing for fun or whatever it
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  is, if generosity is important to you, then allocate money to that.
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  Maybe for you family's valuable.
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  You're, you're paying for four streaming services but haven't
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  had a real family night in weeks.
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  Yeah.
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  You've got the streaming services coming in, you've got the Netflix and the Prime
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  and the Paramount, whatever those things are when you look at your spending, you
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  haven't really had family night in weeks.
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  So maybe for you, you gotta cancel two of those services and just use
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  that money for a weekly family dinner, or go for a hike or go do something
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  fun as a family, not worry about those doggone streaming services.
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  And then I just want you to do one more thing, and that's plan one.
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  Value aligned change.
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  You made those core value decisions, you looked at your spending, and just
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  pick one decision to change this week.
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  Whether that's cutting an expense, redirecting funds, maybe saying no to
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  those impulse buys because this is where the rubber meets the road, my friend.
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  You make your money match your value.
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  So let's say we get back to that health thing and you say,
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  well, here's what I'm gonna do.
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  I'm gonna skip takeout and cook a healthy meal at home twice this
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  week, and I'm gonna use that savings to buy quality grocery shop the
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  outside of the store, as they say.
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  Maybe faith's important to you and you're gonna begin tithing
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  a small amount consistently.
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  Hey, even five, 10, $20 a week, because that's important.
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  You value that so your finances honor God first.
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  Maybe for you, it's that freedom.
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  You wanna cancel a subscription you don't use and put that even, Hey,
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  listen, even 15 bucks extra towards paying off a small debt or building that
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  emergency fund that we talked about.
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  If family's important to you, maybe block out Friday night for, for
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  screen free game time or dinner or or some kind of family event.
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  And again, if generosity is important to you, set up a $10 a month recurring
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  donation to a cause you believe in, Hey, tie the two things together
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  and as a family, talk about that.
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  Can you do service?
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  Can you find a cause that's important for you?
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  Hey, these are all things that you value.
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  I'm not telling you what to value.
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  In the first step you mentioned you wrote down what you want to
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  value and see, here's why this helps, because here's a truth bomb.
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  Misaligned spending equals stress.
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  If your spending's not aligned with your value, you're gonna have
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  stress, you're gonna have guilt, and you're gonna have what I called
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  a couple days ago, that drift.
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  But here's the beauty of what we've talked about today.
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  Value align choices.
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  When you choose to align your spending with your values.
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  That equates to peace.
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  It equates to satisfaction and it equates to direction.
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  And then that tool, that money we talked about, it becomes a vehicle for purpose.
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  Well, let's pray together.
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  Father God, we thank you for giving us purpose and giving
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  us calling in our lives.
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  And we confess, Lord, that we often spend without direction.
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  We just go with whatever society tells us to do.
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  We don't really look at our core values and the values that are important to You.
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  So, Lord, we just ask first, that you would help us identify our values and
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  then align our choices with those values.
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  God grant us clarity, grant us wisdom, and grant us discipline,
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  Lord, to let our money glorify you.
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  And we ask this with confidence.
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  In Jesus' name, Amen.
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  Listen.
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  When your money votes for your values, peace follows.
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  So I just wanna encourage you, take time to today to identify your values.
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  Make one aligned financial choice, just one ' cause you're moving towards freedom.
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  And if you know someone could benefit from this show or benefit from this
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  episode, I'm just gonna encourage you right now to share the show with them.
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  It's a lot of people out there that are struggling and they need some hope, they
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  need some direction, and I bring this show every day to help build that hope, build
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  that momentum, and build that direction in a positive way, grounded in scripture.
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  So I just wanna encourage you, share the show with somebody that you
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  know that could benefit from this.
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  You could point 'em right to our website that's at financially
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  confident christian.com.
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  It's real simple.
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  Go and send them a text.
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  Just say, Hey, check this website out, or send them an email.
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  Hey, check out financially confident christian.com.
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  I also wanna give you a gift today.
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  If you go to my website, financially confident christian.com says Master.
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  You can get a free copy of my book.
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  It's called Mastering Your Finance.
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  It's just a quick read, but it will be so impactful and it's absolutely free
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  when you go to that website, financially confident christian.com/master.
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  Now, tomorrow we're gonna talk about trust.
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  We're gonna be talking about trusting God in uncertainty.
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  How to make him the anchor of your financial peace.
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  So I'm gonna encourage you, don't miss it.
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  Let's go out there and be financially confident.
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  Christians, you can do this.
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  I truly believe in you.
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  Believe in yourself.
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  Stay financially savvy.
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  God bless you, and you have a great day today.