The God of Growth: Cultivating Spiritual & Financial Stewardship

Speaker A00:00:00

Listen to these statistics. 69% of Americans say financial uncertainty has made them feel depressed and anxious. 43% of adults say money negatively impacts their mental health.And listen to this one. 70% of pastors, you heard me right, 70% carry significant debt. Now, I could do a whole show on that.But I was thinking the other day, everywhere we look. I'm talking about everywhere we look, the culture around us celebrates growth. Think about it for a second.Bigger houses, bigger bank accounts, bigger followings online in many ways. Listen, we're living in this super sized world. Go to a fast food joint, what is it? Super sized? The wholesale stores, everything is super sized.And it's all screaming to us. More, more, more, more. Are you feeling that too? But here's the problem, and this is the big problem we've got to talk about today on the show.With all of this chasing of more. And the statistics prove this, what I just read to you, we're actually more anxious than ever.And I don't know about you, but I'm more anxious than I've ever been. 69% of Americans are feeling financially unsecure. They're feeling depressed, they're feeling anxious.43% of adults say money is negatively impacting their mental health. And let's not even go there with the pastors. I already said 70% of pastors are carrying significant debt.But it's amazing culture, social media, all the things around us are constantly telling us we need more. We need more. So let me ask you this, and I really need you to answer this question right now. Because I'm answering this question to myself.If culture is right, if growth really is the answer to all of this, why are we still feeling so restless? It's a great question and it's a tough question. Well, let me ask you this question a little bit deeper.What if God's definition of growth looks nothing like the world's at all? Well, here's a spoiler alert. It doesn't. And that's exactly what I'm going to talk about on today's show.Feeling lost in today's headlines, seeking God's truth for our chaotic culture. Welcome to Truth Unveiled with Ralph. We'll cut through the noise guiding you to biblical discernment for your faith, your finances and your life.Now here's Ralph Estep Jr. Hi there. I'm Ralph. I'm an accountant, I'm a business coach. But more important than any of those things, I'm a follower of Jesus, just like you.And I thought I better start with that. Because, yes, we feel the same way about a lot of these things.And if you tuned in today, I bet you're feeling those same pressures and that same anxiety over finances, over this culture that we live in, this more and more and more culture.And one of the reasons I decided to do this show, Truth Unveil with Ralph, I wanted to bring to you a message every week to just battle against this culture. Because, listen, it's getting to me. I'm sure it's getting to you. And we want to peel back this noise because it is so noisy all around us.And I just want to take a few minutes every week and just look at what God's word really says to us. And if you're like me, it is not easy to do that these days.So my goal every week is to just walk alongside you, remind you that true peace, and I'm talking about real peace, true peace and confidence are never going to be found in culture. They're only found in Christ. So let's get right into today's struggle.I got this great question from a listener, and I said, when I got this question, I've got to do a show about this. And this is why I wanted to discuss this today, because this is such a common fear. I hear this all the time in my accounting practice.I hear it from questions I'm getting from people just like you who are listening to the show or watching the show on YouTube. And I said, this is so very true. But let me get right to the question, Ralph. I want to grow financially and spiritually, but I feel torn.Is it wrong for me to want more? Does God actually want me to succeed, or is that selfish? And I'll tell you, when I got that question, I had to take a quick side take.I said, wait a minute. That's a great question. It's a powerful question. And I started to feel. You know what? I feel this myself.I feel that right now I want to grow financially, I want to grow spiritually. But I do feel torn. If you live in society, listen, if you live in the flesh, like all of us, is it wrong for me to want more?But bigger than that, the biggest part of this question, does God actually want me to succeed? Or is that being selfish?So let me ask you right now, have you ever felt that same tug of war, that ambition pulling you one way, but then that Christian surrender pulling you the other? I'm going to tell you right now, I felt that so many times. I can't even list the number of times I felt that it's that battle.It's that constant battle that we feel like we're all in. You're not alone in that battle. It's that battle of faith versus the world. It's a huge battle. It's that faith versus the world.And I'll tell you right now, it's a huge source of anxiety for me. And I'm willing to bet, I bet you're feeling the same way too. Which leads me to asking the question that the listener asked.Is wanting more automatically wrong? Is it wrong to want more? Or maybe a little bit deeper? Or could it be this? Could it be that God himself planted that desire to grow inside of us?Now, see, that's a really tough question, isn't it? So let's talk about this struggle. Because it's a struggle. This is a battle we're in. This is a war we're in.I know I use that term here on the show many times, but this is a war. This is a culture war. Let's think about the contrast for a second. Think about what culture says.Culture tells this that growth is all about accumulation. The more stuff you get, the more successful you are. The more stuff you have, the better off you are. Independence is the goal. Be independent.Be your own person. That status is the measurement that we're measuring this by.And I'm going to tell you right now, being 100% transparent, I've lived that life for many years. I'm still living it today. It's my own struggle. I had flashy cars. I had the Corvettes, I had the fancy Hummers. I had all those things.I've had too many cars that I can even count in the last 20 years, just constantly chasing after that independence. That stuff. What the world called growth, that world called accumulation.I've told the story on this show or one of my other shows about having expensive watches. I had so many watches. You can't wear one watch at a time, but I had them all. I'm talking about the high end watches.Actually had a winding thing in my bedroom to keep all these watches wound. I had so many watches. And why was I doing that? I was chasing after culture told me that that meant success.If I achieved more stuff, if I got more stuff, I was being successful. I had the elaborate vacations. I was able to post those pictures of the highlight reel. Man, I had arrived. Look, I had status, elaborate vacations.Everybody can say, oh, look at Ralph's Instagram pictures. And in the world's eyes, man, I was super successful. But why didn't I feel it. Talk about that more in a couple minutes.But you might be listening or watching right now. You're like, ralph, man, I am right there with you. I'm not feeling it either. But let's contrast that with what God's word says.That's why I do the show. It's all about finding culture and contrasting it with God's word. See, God's word tells us something completely different.That growth we talked about a few minutes ago is not about accumulation in God's world or in God's economy. Let me use that word. It's probably a better word to use. In God's economy, growth means stewardship, and that's foreign for a lot of people.And it's a realization that stuff is just stuff. My wife is great about saying that, Ralph. It's just stuff. And that right there is a tough pill to swallow because it's all around us.Email, social media, Facebook, LinkedIn, whatever, TikTok, whatever those things are. What do you see? Constantly. You're constantly bombarded with stuff that's striving for getting more stuff.Because that independence, man, you've arrived. But that's not what God's word says. See, God's word tells us something completely different. It's all about faithfulness. It's that path of success.Being faithfulness and multiplication for his kingdom is the end goal, not our own status, not what we're measured by. And that's a huge difference, isn't it? It's completely different. It's foreign to culture, what God's economy really is saying. So here's the tension.If you think about it, are we chasing wealth or are we cultivating stewardship? And that's the main question for today. That's the tension. Are we chasing or are we cultivating? I'm going to start with a real simple question.I get myself in trouble on my daily show. You can check that out. By the way, it's called Financially Confident Christian.You can get to it by going to financiallyconfidentchristian.com 7 to 10 minutes a day to just help you stay and build that financial confidence. But anyway, here's the question. Do you really own your success? And see, that's a tough question. Do you really own it?Or on the other hand, is it actually a loan from the Lord? So let's get into some scripture, because we need to get grounded in this. The foundation for everything I talk about on this show is scripture.And I got to take you right there now because it is so important that you're listening to me, but it's so important that I'm backing up what I'm saying. And let's get right into the scripture. We're going to go right to the Book of Matthew, chapter 25, verse 21. It says this.This is a very familiar verse. If you've been watching the news lately, you're hearing this all over the place about what's going on in the news. I did a show all about that.I encourage you to go check it. About what happened to Charlie Kirk. It is a tragedy what happened to him. But this verse is being played out time and time again. Matthew 25, verse 21.Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness.See, if you're a Christian listening to right now, you've been trained, you've been indoctrinated, you've been taught. That's your final goal. That's the end of the race. That's the promise. And it's a beautiful promise. I'm not minimizing it all.It is a fantastic promise. It's what we're all striving for as a Christian. That's what we're striving for.We're striving to get to the end of the line, whatever that looks like for each of us and God to say, well done, good and faithful servant. But what is he really saying here? You have been faithful with a few things. It's all about consistent faithfulness. But what's funny.Think about this for a second. Not one time does it mention accumulation of wealth. Not a single time. It doesn't mention your bank account. It doesn't mention stuff.It doesn't mention cars or watches or homes or retirement accounts. None of those things. You've been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness.Listen, I can go a little deeper. Let's go to John, chapter 15, verse 5. A great spiritual picture we're going to paint here.I just want you to think of a huge tree, right as we begin this verse. Think of a huge tree. Look it through your mind. You see this huge tree, big branches everywhere.Maybe you pictured on a hill, nice rolling meadow all around you. Sort of what I have here on the farm behind me. John 15:5. I am the vine, you are the branches.If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit. But here's the admonition you got to get ready for this. Apart from me, you can do nothing. See, this is the foundation.What is it telling us in the scripture? Here it is, clear as day. If you remain in me and I in you, the tree needs roots to survive. I'll get to that a little bit deeper in a few minutes.But if you remain there, what does it say here in the scripture? You will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. See, a tree can't live without its roots. It's all about the roots.So let me ask you a really tough question right now. And listen, I'm turning this microscope on myself at the same time. Where are your roots? We got to answer that question. Where are our roots?Is Jesus the vine? Are we really part of his branches anymore? Because if we're not, guess what we can do nothing. Let's get to the next verse.This is the book of Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 9 and 10. We're going a little deeper now because we got to get there. Proverbs 3, 9, 10.Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops. Then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine. Sounds like I'm talking a lot about drinking.We got vines, we got wine, branches. But see, here's the key to this. What is God telling us? First of all, we got to honor the Lord. Well, guess what? That's kind of a no brainer, isn't it?But what are we honoring him with? Your wealth. It goes a little deeper than that. See, this isn't the time for leftovers. I wrote in my notes here, first fruits, not leftovers.Somebody's coming to your house. Think about this analogy for a second. Somebody's coming to your house. Never had these people over before. Are you going to serve them leftovers?I don't think you would. You're going to put your finest tablecloth on. You're going to put the finest china out. You are going to put the most beautiful meal you can.You're not serving the leftover pizza from last night. I talked about this a couple weeks ago on the show. You can get all of our shows by going to truth unveiled with Ralph.com.you can catch all of our episodes, but we're not serving leftovers. But bigger than that, what is God promising us? The promise. Here is what we all have to really tap into. The promise is overflowing barns.Now that sounds great. Overflowing barns, fantastic. But think about the other side. Of that, no more anxiety, no more depression, no more fear.Do you want that for your life? Well, there's the answer. Honor the Lord with your wealth, with your first fruits of your crops. Let's go a little deeper.Let's get to 2 Corinthians, chapter 9, verses 6 to 8. And I'm going to tell you right now, as I was preparing for today's show, and I've reread the scripture here, right before I started recording today.See, this is the cool thing about scripture. It steps on our toes sometimes. Let me tell you one, this one stepped on my toes big time. Again, Second Corinthians, 9, 6, 8.Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows generously will also reap generously.Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or out of compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.And God is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. And I told you that stepped on my toes. Maybe it's stepping on your toes as well, because it's so easy to lose sight of this, isn't it?It's so easy to compare ourselves to what others have. And I've done a show about that as well, that comparison trap. But what is God telling us here? He's going to bless us abundantly.We'll have all things at all times, all that we need in every good work. But what is he asking us? What is he commanding us? What is he encouraging us to do? Because it's a choice. You don't have to do this.You can go completely against God, say, I'm going to do this on my own. I want to live in culture. My opinion, you're going to live in anxiety. You can live in depression. You're going to live in fear.You're going to live all the statistics we talked about the beginning, but what's he encouraging us to do to. To so generously? And you'll reap generously. So let me ask you this. What if the real question isn't how much do I have?Because it's easy to get stuck there, isn't it? You're listening. Or watch. Right now you're up.Hey, man, I can talk about what I don't have, but what if the real question isn't how much do I have, but am I faithful with what I've been given? And now you gotta pause for a second, think about how much you truly have. See, I think as people, as a merit, I'm gonna pick on Americans right now.As Americans, we are so very fortunate. We're so very grateful. Excuse me. We're not so grateful, honestly. But we're so blessed by what we have, we just take things for granted.So what if the real question isn't how much do I have, but am I being faithful, what I've been given? Think about how much you have right now. And see, that's where the tension rises. This is that cultural tension.Because culture is telling you to get more and more and more and more and accumulate. But what if that's not the question? Maybe the question is not. It's not about how much I have. It's am I being faithful, what I've already been given?So I want to, right now, I want to share with you. How do you deal with this cultural tension? Because listen, we are in the midst of a culture war, a culture tension about this.I'm going to share with you what I came up with. Four truths. These four truths are going to fix this situation that we find ourselves in. I'm gonna jump right into the first one. Truth number one.It's all about faithfulness over accumulation. I've kind of talked about this already. What does God value? God values stewardship more than in numbers. Here's the thing I'm gonna tell you right now.You're never gonna outspend God. You're never out gonna give God. It's not about the numbers with God. It's about your stewardship. What does the scripture say? A little bit.You've been good with a little bit. So even a little bit handled faithfully. And that's the key. Are you handling it faithfully when you do that? You're honoring him.It's not about the money. It's not about the amount. Think of the woman or the widow in the synagogue. I told this story. It's a very famous Bible verse.Let's revisit that for a second here. Jesus is in the synagogue. He's watching the wealthy Jews come up and drop big old money into the treasury.I mean, these folks are where in beautiful robes, got big hats, fancy hats on, all those type of things. These are the well to do. These are the cultural status people, right? They've arrived, they've accumulated. They've got the stuff, They've grow.They've got that growth. They're growing, right? And just picture Jesus is hanging back and watching as this widow enters. This widow's not Wearing big flowing robes.She doesn't have all the gold. She's got two simple coins in her hand. She drops those in the treasury. See, she was given out of poverty. Wasn't about the money.It was about the little handled, faithful. Because, listen, she was giving more than. And Jesus even said this at the time. I'm not gonna have time to read the whole scripture right now.But she was given out of faithfulness. Those rich folks, they were given from their abundance. They had it. It wasn't even a stretch for them.They were just bringing in the bags of gold or whatever that was at the time, just dropping the coins. It didn't matter to them. What was she doing, though?She was given out of her poverty, she was given out of the meagerness that she had because she had faith. She had faithfulness. She understood stewardship. She understood that God values stewardship more than the numbers. How do you feel about that?Let me ask you this question. This one might hurt a little bit, but it's done out of love. If God gave you more tomorrow, would he be able to trust you with it?I'm going to ask you that again because you got to hear it. You got to hear it loud and clear. And trust me, I'm preaching to myself right now. I'm talking to myself right now.If God gave you more tomorrow, would he be able to trust you with it? See, that one hurts a little bit, doesn't it? That's the first truth. We got to focus on this. It's faithfulness over accumulation.It's not about how much you have. It's about how faithful you are with what you've already been given. Let's move on to the second truth.I'm going to use a big fancy Christian term, abiding. My second truth is abiding versus striving. I want to take a sidebar right now. Let's talk about what does abiding mean?Because honestly, when I was preparing for today's episode, I said, I got to get into really understand what this definition is. It's really important. So let's pause there and let's ask, what does it mean to abide? And I read this verse earlier. This is John 15, 5.I am divine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. So simply abiding means this, staying connected to Jesus.Picture this like a branch to a vine. Tell you a little story. When I was a kid, used to love to go to my grandfather's house. My grandfather had A beautiful garden.And in the corner of the garden, he had this grapevine. He used to have these grapes. I'm going to tell you right now, they were massive, big old purple grapes.And I remember as a kid, we'd go under the grapevine, and these grapes were just hanging down, man. They were bunches and oodles and baskets of amazing grapes.And I'll never forget, at the end of every season, it would be the end of October, beginning of November. My grandfather would venture out, put the heavy coat on. It's starting to get a little colder here in Delaware, where we're at.And it's funny, I can remember this to this day. He'd venture out, and I'd see him out there working in the garden.He'd be over the grapevine, and he's pulling all these vines down, and he's got a saw, and he's just cutting those vines. And I'll never forget, I walked out there, I said. I called him Pop Pop. I said, pop Pop, what are you doing to the vines, man? I love these grapes.We're not gonna have any grapes. And now, my grandfather and I were really close. Super close, actually. Good Christian man brought me to salvation at age 13.But that's for another day. Anyway, he says to me, he goes, son, look at the base of that. He said, you notice I'm not touching the roots. I'm not touching the main part of that.And at the time, I was a young guy, I didn't really think about what he was saying, but he understood what abiding meant. See, if you cut off the branch, it withers. If we.When he cut those off, when he cut those off from the main branch, those leaves and all, they just fell to the ground. Grabbed them up, put them in the burning barrel. Used to burn his leaves at the time, kind of a cool thing.It was like, that was our cool fall thing to do. But when they stay connected, when they reconnect in the spring, it produces fruit. And see, culture will tell you that abiding is hustling harder.Culture just lies to us. Just work harder. You'll get to that point. But that's the lie of culture. Culture tells you, oh, you got to do more religious activity, Ralph.That's what you're going to do to get there. But that's not the answer. Because what is Christ telling us here? It's about remaining in his presence through prayer and scripture.It's about depending on him for strength instead of yourself. Hey, we got to lose ourself. That's one of the big takeaways of Christian. You can read the Bible from COVID to cover.One of the main takeaways of Scripture is stopped worrying about yourself, get out of the way. And obeying his word because you trust Him. See, that's the key to this. I'm a free will person. It's your decision. Do you want to trust him?When you trust him, you obey His Word. See, in practical terms. Let's get back to some practicality. Abiding means saying this very, very strong thing.It's saying, jesus, I don't just need you on Sundays. It's easy to need him on Sundays, isn't it? I just don't need you on Sundays, Lord, I need you every single day.I need you in my work, I need you in my money. I need you in my family. I need you in my future. See, that's what abiding means.Because when you live in that level of abiding, growth is supernatural. Growth flows from staying connected to Christ, just like those grapevines. The rest of the story comes about in the spring.My grandfather's out there cultivating the garden. I look over at the grapevines and the coolest thing has happened. I'm seeing shooting off those things. He cut back.The grapes are growing back over top of the. He had a nice little cover. The grapes will go over top. And by the middle of the summer, man, those grapes were hanging down again.And not forget, he said to me, he says, see that? I told you, stay connected to the root, stay connected to the branch. Guess what happens. These vines bear fruit. And see, culture lies to us.It says, well, just hustle harder. You just need to hustle harder. Don't care about the branch, no matter who you're connected to. But what is Jesus saying to us?Jesus is saying, apart from me, you can do nothing. I gotta repeat that because you gotta hear this loud and clear. If you don't hear anything else I'm saying today, you gotta hear this one.Jesus is saying, apart from me, you can do nothing. You gotta embrace that. Let me ask you this question, because trust me, this is where I found myself so many times in my life.Have you been working harder and harder, but you're just feeling emptier and emptier. Well, that's where the truth number two comes in. Abiding. Are you abiding in him? Are you staying connected to Jesus? Are you striving on your own?Because chances are, if you're working harder and harder and you're feeling emptier and empty. You've lost sight of the branches, man. You are not connected to the root anymore. Let's move on to my third truth, and this one's a bit controversial.A lot of people say, ralph, I can't believe you're going to go there. But my third truth is this stewardship is worship. Maybe better said, stewardship is being used as worship. See, money isn't just neutral.A lot people say, oh, money is a neutral thing. No, it's not. Money reveals who you worship. Look at your bank account and you show me your bank account. I'll tell you what you worship.I'm not judging you. Turn that microscope on me. See, giving and saving aren't just financial habits. A lot of people think, oh, if I give, that's a good habit.If I spend, I say, that's a good habit. No, no, no. They're spiritual disciplines. They are worship. I posted shows about giving. I got a lot of people checked into that because guess what?People have a natural inclination to give. I got a ton of YouTube comments about that.I don't know if you know this or not, but all the shows that we do on audio are also available on YouTube and rumble. So if you want to see me, it might be a scary thought, but if you want to go see me, you can check me out on YouTube.I have some notes in the show, notes about how to go see that. But I'm getting comments there because people are a bit taken back by this controversial stand, that money is a neutral.So many people are out there preaching the word that, oh, money is just neutral. It's just a means of. But it's not. I was just having a conversation with somebody this morning. Show me your bank account. Show me your credit card.Show me your credit card statement. Show me your bank statements. And I'm going to tell you who you worship. What do your bank statements say?What do they say about who or what you worship? Again, I'm not judging you because I've had to ask myself the same question so many times in my life.And if I'm being honest, I don't like the answers I see most of the time. So I'm encouraging. How about you? Well, let's move on to my fourth truth, and this one is so very critical as well.It's all about kingdom purpose, not your personal glory. I said a few minutes ago, we got to get out of our own way. See, God doesn't multiply resources for you. Maybe you don't like to hear that right now.It's not about you. It's about eternal impact. See, God doesn't give you these things so that your names are lifted high.Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's just the way it is. And this is a paradigm shift. This is a mindset shift because culture tells you something else. Flesh tells you something completely different.It's not about our names being lifted high. If you think that your name is going to be lifted high, then you're going to be in that status. Guess what, my friends?You might not like what I'm fixing to say, but my grandfather used to say it all the time. You might like what I'm fixing to say, but you're not living for Christ. But his goal is, his kingdom advances. See, it's not about your status.It's not about my status. It's not about our status. It's about his status. And see, here's the problem. This is where we battle the flesh, don't we? Ask yourself.This is your growth story about you becoming known? Hey, that's a great question, isn't it? Boy, that one steps on some toes, doesn't it? You got to think about that one for a second, huh?Is your growth story about you being known, or is it about his name being lifted up? That one hurts. So those are the four truths. Okay, Ralph, I got a lot of work to do. Trust me, I'm right there with you.I got a lot of work to do as well. So how do we make this change? How do we change that paradigm? How do we change that mindset shift? How do we apply this to our daily life?Because it's one thing to recognize. It's one thing to say. Ralph, you're right. Those are truths. You backed them up in Scripture. I get it. You're absolutely right.It's not about me, by the way. So scripture saying. I put it in the scriptures. You could see it, but you can recognize it. But the difference is, can you change the trajectory?And now you're saying, ralph, how do I do that? Well, I've got some practical things to do. Three simple phrases. You can memorize these.You want to unlock those truths and really make them impactful in your life? You got to do three simple things. Audit, reframe, and practice. And I'm going to break each one of those down separately in a second.But audit, reframe and practice. Let's jump right into the first one. Phase one is the audit. As an accountant, I understand what auditing means. I'm going to make it very simple.Audit simply means Take an inventory. You go into your pantry, how many cans of this, how many of this, how many jars of sauce do we have? Very simple. Take an inventory.Ask yourself, where has God already given you the increase? Are you even noticing it? Because that's a hard thing, too. Do you ever realize what God has given you?Have you thought about lately how much of an increase God has already given you? Ready for this one? Or are you overlooking those blessings because you're constantly comparing yourself to someone else's?I talked about this a couple weeks ago. Are you running somebody else's race? Because maybe you got that raise at work. Didn't think much of it. I deserve that raise.You know, I'm striving, I'm hustling harder. It didn't even occur to you, thank God, about it. And you immediately thought this. It's still not as much as I wanted.It's still not going to let me arrive. It's not going to let me buy that stuff I need.It's not going to let me keep up with the folks down the road or find that growth, that accumulation that culture is telling me. And see, that's where abiding starts. Abiding starts recognizing what God has already done for you. Things I encourage people to do almost daily.And I'm embracing this myself. It's all about finding gratitude and living in appreciation for what we already have. That is what it means to be abiding.So it starts by taking that inventory. Ask yourself this. What would happen if you paused today? Just paused it right now. Whatever you're doing, paused.If you did that right now and wrote down three areas where God has already grown you, I'm gonna encourage you to do that. Do that sometime today. Do that sometime this week. But really think about it. Write down three areas where God has already grown you.Because guess what I think you're going to find when you do that audit. That's why I started there. You want to change this paradigm? You want to change this mindset? Audit where you are right now.Second phase to this is reframe. See, this is not an easy feat. Guess what? We live in flesh. We live in culture. And we see things through that lens. That's our fleshly.That's who we are. That's our flesh. We can't stay there. We want to change this, we gotta reframe it.Reframing it means to see growth through God's lens, not culture's lens. Because that cultural end is broken, my friends. It's broken. It's busted. Culture Says growth is for status. Remember what I said earlier?That's what culture's saying. It's about your status. Growth, status, fantastic accumulation, all those things. But God's growth is for stewardship.Ask yourself, this is my financial growth aligned with the kingdom purpose? Hey, that's what I was talking about a little while ago.Show me your credit card statements, show me your bank statements, and I'll show you what you worship. Think about, if you're a small business owner, put yourself in that role. I work with a lot of small business people.I'm a small business owner myself. Maybe you're not, but envision that you are. If your business is growing, is it only so you can buy that bigger house?Only so you can buy that bigger car, go on that fancier vacation, do all those things that the world says, I'm going to grow that bank account, Ralph. I'm going to grow that retirement account I'm going to live in. My grandfather used a fat city. Not sure where fat city was. I haven't found it yet.But is that the reason it's growing so you can get a bigger house? Or maybe you should be asking, lord, how can I use this growth to bless others? Again, I'm turning this on myself.And that reframing it changes your heart posture. It changes it from that mind to his. It's shifting that focus. Ask yourself this question.What would shift in your life if every increase I'm talking about, every single one of them, came with a prayer of, lord, how do you want me to use this for your kingdom? So that's my second challenge for today. Start to think about that shift in your mind. What if every increase came with this prayer?Lord, how do you want me to use this? So that's the second thing. You got to reframe. Phase three, practice. See, growth isn't just some thought. A lot of people think, well, growth.I'm just going to snap into this. I'm going to snap out of where I'm at. No, it doesn't work that way. It's a rhythm. It's a practice. So that's why I put this as phase three.If you want to get past this, it's going to require some practice because you're fighting against the flesh. You're fighting against the world, you're fighting against culture. I wrote this in my notes. You're fighting against the flesh.You're fighting against yourself in so many ways. So here's a simple practice to try to think about that practice.Give first, save second, live on the rest now I'm going to tell you right now, to the world, you're talking about something counterculture. Can you imagine giving first? When money comes in, first thing you do, set aside God's portion first.Even before you pay your bills, you're like, Ralph, you've lost your mind. But what does the scripture tell us? First fruits. Are you giving God the leftovers? We talked about that earlier in the day.Somebody come over for dinner. Are you giving them the leftovers? Hey, this is God. Are you giving God your leftovers? See, that's challenging.Give first, pay him first, save for the future, next. Notice I haven't said anything about living yet. You're like, Ralph, how am I going to live? We'll get to that.Give first, save second, then live on what remains. That's the practice I'm talking about here. This simple rhythm trains your heart. Your heart needs to be trained.It trains it to see money not as a master. And that's the problem. The problem is so many people are stuck with. Money is their master. It's who they worship.It's why I asked that question a few minutes ago. Show me your statements, show me where your money goes, and I'll tell you what you worship. But we got to change that paradigm.We got to see money as a servant of God's purposes. Think about this for a second. Ask yourself this question. What would change in your stress level? Listen, I started with statistics.Today, 69% of people are stressed, depressed, whatever those terms are. All the negative terms. But what would change in your stress level if you truly believe your finances belong to God, not you?Think about that for a second, because I'm getting ready to shock you right when I'm fixing to say next. Guess what? They don't belong to you. They belong to God in the first place. I told you a little shocking right there.And I want to be real with you, because the truth is, I'm not. I'm not coming to you telling you things that I haven't struggled with. I've had seasons when I thought growth was all about the numbers.Listen, I'm an accountant. That's what I've been doing for 30 years. I understand the financial side of this. I understand the number side of this, and for many, many years.And I'm still battling this to this day. The higher the numbers, the. The more secure I thought I would feel, the more secure I thought I'd be. I'd be like, oh, you've arrived, Ralph.But guess what? God had to teach me a lesson. And what did he teach me? He taught me this. He said, real growth isn't about what I accumulate, Ralph.It's about what I store. And see, that's so fundamental.And I'm going to tell you right now, that lesson right there nearly broke me so many times, but it led me to believe something that I truly want to embrace. And I want to share this with you right now. Some of the richest seasons of my life, both financially and spiritually. Hear me now.Some of the richest seasons of my life, both financially and spiritually, were when the numbers didn't make sense. They just didn't make sense to me. And I'm a numbers guy. This is what I do.Numbers didn't make sense, but God was faithful because the truth is sometimes richness, real richness, true richness, makes no sense at all. Have you ever felt that yourself? But see, when I felt it, when I embraced that, finally, that's when I knew I could trust it.Because it wasn't about the numbers. So let's go back to our contrast today, the world versus the Word.I'm going to rephrase it, because as I was working through today's episode, I got to this point in my plan. I said, you know, what we're really talking about here is the world versus the Word. That's really what this show comes down to. Truth unveiled.We're unveiling the world and applying it to biblical truth. The world continues to lie to you. It's telling you bigger is better, super size. All those things accumulate. Get all this stuff.But here's the problem with that, the sinister side of that. It's making you find your identity in your possessions. It's making you find your identity in your stuff.And guess what happens when you realize that you don't have more than the person next to you? Your identity feels broken. You feel less than you feel depressed. You feel anxiety because the world has lied to you.It's told you that your identity is in what you have and you're never going to have enough. That's just a true statement. You're never going to have enough. But what does God's word tell us? Completely counter to that?God's Word tells us that greater stewardship means greater trust and identity, our true identity. And I want you to hear this, and I want you to hear this loud and clear, because the Holy Spirit is speaking through me right now.Your identity in the Word of God is that your identity is being a child of God. You're abiding in Christ. So Let me ask you this question. Which voice are you following? Because culture's shouting, more, more, more.Culture continues to shout that. But what's the shepherd whispering right in your ear right now? Faithful abide in me.So just to recap a little bit today, what we've seen today, faithfulness is so much greater than accumulation. Abiding is so much more powerful than striving. And that stewardship, that faithful stewardship, is truly worshiping God.And we got to stop looking for growth in ourselves and look for that God's growth in that kingdom, purpose. So I want to revisit the question that was asked of the listener. Does God want me to grow? God isn't against your growth. He's for it.But here's the difference. He wants it rooted in him. Now, I know that's a bold statement, but you got to hear this today. Think back to that grapevine. Where's the source?Where's your source? So let me ask you this. What kind of growth are you really chasing? Where are your roots? Because that's the question today. Are you in the world?Are you in the Word? Which leads me to the most important question that I can tell you, that I can ask you about today. Because so many of us.And listen, I've been here before, too. You've been trying to grow in your own strength. You've been trying to do on your own.You've been listening to the culture and saying, ralph, I'm just going to hustle harder because culture tells me that I can do it. I can be all I can be. It's all about independence, all about the stuff. I just put my head down and I work harder. But you don't know Jesus.And what did the scripture say? True growth starts with new life in him. See, without the vine, my grandfather's grapes aren't going to grow.Without those vines, there's no lasting fruit. So let me ask you right now, are you ready to connect to Jesus? Maybe you've never been asked this question directly. Are you ready to commit to Jesus?Are you ready to abide in him? If you are, I really encourage you to pray this prayer with me. It's a really simple. It's called the Prayer of Salvation. It starts just like this.Lord Jesus, I admit that I'm a sinner. And bigger than that, Lord, I know I'm in need of your forgiveness.And I believe with every ounce of my being, every ounce of my heart, that you died on the cross for my sins and that you rose again so that I could have Eternal life. And today, Lord, I want to turn away from my old ways.The ways that were leading me to anxiety, the ways that were leading me to tension, the ways that were leading me to just worry about myself. And Lord, I want you to be my Savior. I want to invite you into my heart as my Savior.And my Lord, help me to trust in you Lord, to follow you and to grow in the life that you've created for me. And I just humbly ask for this from this day forward. That I am yours Lord, that you are my personal Savior. And I ask this in Jesus name, Amen.If you prayed that prayer, I want to tell you something right now. Welcome to the family of God. You are now a card carrying member of the family of God.And I'm going to tell you right now, heaven is rejoicing with you. There are all kinds of celebration going on in heaven right now because you made that decision. You made that decision to abide in Christ.And I would love to hear from you if you made that decision. You can reach out to me just go to my website. Truth unveiled with Ralph.com decision Reach out to me. I'd like to help you on this faithful step.I'd like to help you find a church. I'd like to help you find somebody to surround yourself with fellow believers. Because you can't do this on your own.You've taken the first step, but take that second step. Reach out to somebody that you know. If you know a pastor of a Christian church, a good Bible believing church, reach out to them.But like I said, if you'd like to reach out to me, go to Truth Unveiled with Ralph.com decision and let's talk. Why don't we pray together as we end today's show?Lord, thank you for the fact that you are a God of growth and yes, you want us to be successful, but you want us to do it in you.We just ask that you would bring us to priests where there is financial anxiety, where we feel this stress and we feel this depression and we feel this worry. Lord, grant us wisdom to understand that you just want us to abide in you, that you want us to live this constant state of daily stewardship.And Lord, it's not easy for us. So we ask that you would give us courage to trust you.Give us courage to trust your plan over the world's lies, Lord, and the culture that we see around us. And we ask this in complete confidence in the name that matters only to us. In the name of Jesus. Amen.One of the things I'm going to ask you to do right now. And I truly hope this show has blessed you. If it's blessed you, I would really appreciate if you'd share it with others.There's so many people out now right there who are living in this reality. 69% financial worry and stress and fear and anxiety and depression.And if you share this show with them, you might be able to get them to see that there is a faithful God who wants to be there for them, help them to experience the same peace that I hope you're feeling today. Because the truth is, together we can change the world one person at a time. But it takes you sharing this and you can do this for them.You have a chance to grow the kingdom. You have a chance to go out there and share the good news. Just share the show with them.Point them right to our website, truthunveilwithralph.com and I just want to thank you now for joining me today. I encourage you to join me again next week as we break down more cultural lies and really put it against biblical truth.I just want to encourage you right now. Walk in faith, live in confidence. I truly believe in you. Believe in yourself. God bless you. And you have a great day today.