July 3, 2025 • 15 mins
Have you ever looked at your bank statement and thought, Where did it all go? In this episode of Financially Confident Christian, Ralph invites us to go beyond habits and social pressure to explore how our spending decisions can (and should) reflect what matters most. If you're tired of financial stress and regret, this episode will help you identify your top values and start aligning every dollar with your God-given purpose. When your heart and your wallet are in sync, you experience the freedom and clarity that come from spending from your true values
Check out the full podcast episode here
You’ll walk away with a practical action step: define your top 3–5 values and do a “values test” on your recent spending. Ralph also offers simple examples of how to shift your finances in small but powerful ways—whether it’s cutting a subscription, redirecting a donation, or setting aside time for a family night. This isn’t about restriction; it’s about living intentionally and letting your money tell the right story.
Chapters:
- 00:16 - The Value of Money: Understanding Our Spending Habits
- 01:13 - Understanding Our True Values in Spending
- 05:40 - Aligning Values with Financial Choices
- 07:17 - Aligning Financial Decisions with Core Values
- 10:33 - Aligning Spending with Values
- 12:46 - Trusting God in Uncertainty
Takeaways:
- Understanding our true values helps us align our spending with what truly matters in life.
- Intentional living is key to financial freedom and helps break the cycle of shame.
- Every dollar spent reflects what we value; it's like casting a vote for our priorities.
- Misaligned spending creates stress and guilt, but aligning spending with values brings peace and purpose.
Links referenced in this episode:
WATCH NOW ON YOUTUBE (OUR VIDEO VERSION)
WATCH NOW ON RUMBLE (OUR VIDEO VERSION)
Please share our Podcast with all your friends and family!
Submit your questions or ideas for future shows - email us at
ralph@askralph.com or leave a voicemail message on our podcast page
Buy Ralph's Book - Mastering Your Finances!
Buy Ralph's Book - Gospel of Entrepreneurship: Following Jesus in Your Business Journey
Buy Ralph's Book -
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ralph (00:00):
Ever look at your bank statement and wonder, Hey,
where did all the money go?
Why some purchases feel great andothers, well, they just leave you empty.
What if every dollar you spentwas a direct reflection of
what you truly value in life?
Here's the truth.
It can be Stick with me today.
I'm gonna help you dojust that on today's show.
(00:36):
Hey there, and welcome back to yourDaily Financially Confident Christian.
I'm Ralph, and it's so great that you'vechosen to give me a little bit of your
time again, today we continue our journeyin answering that big question, how can I
become a financially confident Christian?
And we're strongly building afoundation in our new series called
Beyond the Budget, finding FinancialFreedom Through Intentional Living.
(00:59):
We're really talkingabout intentional living.
Yesterday we explored contentmentand gratitude, and I really
hope you caught that episode.
If you didn't, I'm gonnaencourage you to go check it out.
And today we're gonna ask a new question.
This one gets a little deep.
So be ready.
What are my true values and how dothey actually guide my spending?
(01:19):
See, I think it's so important thatwe start to understand our true values
and how they guide your spending.
' cause maybe you spend things on,things that don't really matter to you.
I feel that way many times.
Maybe for you it's a, a closetof clothes you never wear.
Hey, I'm guilty of that sometimes.
My wife said to me one time, she goes,Ralph, on the second floor of the house,
(01:41):
you've got a bunch of clothes up there.
You never even look at.
Guilty is charged.
Or maybe for you it'ssubscriptions that you barely use.
You know, you download asubscription or you, you buy an
app and you just never open it.
I think about on my own iPhone,how many apps I have that
I just never even look at.
And a lot of times the issueis stuff just creates stress.
(02:01):
We add more stuff.
Trying to fill a void, trying to, tryingto fill this emptiness and all that stuff
does is create more stress, not joy.
It kind of, it makes you wannaembrace a minimalist life.
And the truth is, when we reallyexamine our spending, we spend by habit.
Well, we always do that.
That's what we do.
We do this, we do that.
It's a habit.
(02:23):
Or maybe we spend by desire, oh, Iwant to do this, I want to do that.
Or a lot of times, and I think this isone of the big problems we have right
now, is we spend based on social pressure.
But notice I didn't say in any ofthat we spend based on our values,
because a lot of times your spendingdoesn't reflect your values.
(02:46):
When your spending doesn't reflectyour values, that's a disconnect and
that disconnect, to be honest withyou, a hundred percent truthful, it
causes guilt because you're guilty.
I'm not spending on thethings that I truly value.
It causes regret becausethe money's gone in.
You're thinking, Hey,but what if I done this?
(03:06):
What if I did that?
What if I was more charitable?
What if I helped my, my family?
The trifecta of this, it causes stress.
See, because right now as you'relistening, you're probably
saying, Ralph, I work hard.
I truly do.
I put in the hours, man.
I put in the reps. You work hard, butyour money doesn't serve your purpose.
(03:28):
But here's the thing, and I want youto hear this loud and clear today.
Every dollar that you spend,Is a vote for what you value.
I'm gonna say that again 'cause it'sso important that you hear me today.
Every dollar that you spendis a vote for what you value.
(03:49):
Now you might be saying, great.
Okay, that sounds good, Ralph.
But here's the problem.
If you don't define these values,society's gonna define them for you.
And oftentimes, if we're honestwith ourselves, we allow society
to, to really define our values.
In the end, God calls usto live intentionally.
I talk about intentionality isalmost a whole point of this new
(04:11):
series, and God calls us to liveintentionally and to steward wisely.
Look at the book of Proverbs.
Open up the chapter four verse 23.
It says this, above all else,guard your heart for everything
you do, flows from it.
Now that's impactful.
If you think about that aboveall else, above anything else
(04:34):
that you do, guard your heart
for everything you do, flows from it.
Your money flows from your heartbecause it's something that you do.
Right?
And when our values align with ourfinancial choices, when we really
think about this is what my valuesare, and we align those with our
(04:56):
financial decisions, with our spendingchoices, then money becomes a useful
tool for joyful purpose-filled living.
'cause in the end this is aboutstewardship, not restriction.
A lot of people say, oh,Ralph, here he goes again.
He cannot talk about where I can'tspend money and I shouldn't spend
my, it's not what I'm saying at all.
(05:16):
But when you align your values withyour spending, that tool now becomes
a joyful purpose-filled living, andyou're able to live in abundance,
not restriction, and rather thanstress and want and guilt and fear.
You live in a place of joy andclarity and peace, and hey,
isn't that what you want today?
(05:37):
So I've sold you on that.
Now you're saying, Ralph, what can we do?
How, how do, how do you spend inalignment with your true values?
Well, here's where the solution starts.
It starts by identifying your core valuesand aligning your spending to match them.
And then you've got to just say, look,I'm gonna let my values guide every
single financial decision that I make.
(05:59):
And now I'm gonna tell you how to do that.
Here's your action step for today.
I want you to identify yourtop three to five core values.
Spend about 10 or 15 minutes justreflecting on what are your true core
values, what matters most to you?
Is it family?
Is family important to you?
How about your faith?
You're listening to this, Ibet faith is important to you.
(06:22):
How about your health?
A lot of people say, we hate with health.
Health, I don't have anything.
Maybe it's freedom.
It's the ability to not be chained or inthat, in those cycle of financial shame.
As I talked about, maybe one of yourvalues is generosity, and I just want you
to, to spend about 10 or 15 minutes andjust write three to four or five of those.
Write them down.
For example, we talked about faith.
(06:44):
Maybe, you know, staying spirituallyconnected and trusting God's
provision is important to you.
If it's family, maybe prioritizingtime and and caring for loved
ones is important to you.
Maybe maintaining your physical andmental wellbeing is important to you,
or having margin and flexibility andnot being controlled by money or as I
(07:05):
mentioned, generosity, helping othersthrough giving and through service.
Just write 3, 4, 5 of those thingsdown and really put them pen to
paper, and I want you to do that.
I want you to go back, and this is thehard part, review your recent spending.
I'm gonna do what I call the values test.
Look at your tracker, look atyour budget and ask yourself this
(07:25):
very difficult, deep question.
Does this spendingtruly reflect my values?
As an example, let's say you're,you're, you're all about health, but
then you look at your spending and youspent $180 on fast food last month.
I don't know about you, but Idon't think that's very healthy.
I'm not judging you.
Your value is health.
(07:47):
And then you went and spent$180 on fast food last month.
And if you, if you're honest withyourself, that doesn't align with your
desire to feel better and live longer.
Now, maybe one of yourvalues is generosity.
It's a great value to have,but your budget shows no giving
to churches or any causes.
You're generous, where if generositymatters to you, you may wanna reallocate
(08:08):
some of that discretionary spending.
So rather than doing the things thatyou're doing for fun or whatever it
is, if generosity is important toyou, then allocate money to that.
Maybe for you family's valuable.
You're, you're paying for fourstreaming services but haven't
had a real family night in weeks.
Yeah.
You've got the streaming services comingin, you've got the Netflix and the Prime
(08:30):
and the Paramount, whatever those thingsare when you look at your spending, you
haven't really had family night in weeks.
So maybe for you, you gotta canceltwo of those services and just use
that money for a weekly family dinner,or go for a hike or go do something
fun as a family, not worry aboutthose doggone streaming services.
And then I just want you to do onemore thing, and that's plan one.
(08:54):
Value aligned change.
You made those core value decisions,you looked at your spending, and just
pick one decision to change this week.
Whether that's cutting an expense,redirecting funds, maybe saying no to
those impulse buys because this is wherethe rubber meets the road, my friend.
You make your money match your value.
So let's say we get back tothat health thing and you say,
(09:15):
well, here's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna skip takeout and cooka healthy meal at home twice this
week, and I'm gonna use that savingsto buy quality grocery shop the
outside of the store, as they say.
Maybe faith's important to youand you're gonna begin tithing
a small amount consistently.
Hey, even five, 10, $20 aweek, because that's important.
You value that so yourfinances honor God first.
(09:37):
Maybe for you, it's that freedom.
You wanna cancel a subscription youdon't use and put that even, Hey,
listen, even 15 bucks extra towardspaying off a small debt or building that
emergency fund that we talked about.
If family's important to you, maybeblock out Friday night for, for
screen free game time or dinneror or some kind of family event.
And again, if generosity is importantto you, set up a $10 a month recurring
(10:01):
donation to a cause you believe in,Hey, tie the two things together
and as a family, talk about that.
Can you do service?
Can you find a causethat's important for you?
Hey, these are all things that you value.
I'm not telling you what to value.
In the first step you mentionedyou wrote down what you want to
value and see, here's why thishelps, because here's a truth bomb.
(10:22):
Misaligned spending equals stress.
If your spending's not alignedwith your value, you're gonna have
stress, you're gonna have guilt,and you're gonna have what I called
a couple days ago, that drift.
But here's the beauty of whatwe've talked about today.
Value align choices.
When you choose to align yourspending with your values.
(10:42):
That equates to peace.
It equates to satisfactionand it equates to direction.
And then that tool, that money we talkedabout, it becomes a vehicle for purpose.
Well, let's pray together.
Father God, we thank you forgiving us purpose and giving
us calling in our lives.
And we confess, Lord, that weoften spend without direction.
(11:05):
We just go with whateversociety tells us to do.
We don't really look at our core valuesand the values that are important to You.
So, Lord, we just ask first, that youwould help us identify our values and
then align our choices with those values.
God grant us clarity, grant uswisdom, and grant us discipline,
Lord, to let our money glorify you.
(11:27):
And we ask this with confidence.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Listen.
When your money votes foryour values, peace follows.
So I just wanna encourage you, taketime to today to identify your values.
Make one aligned financial choice, justone ' cause you're moving towards freedom.
(11:49):
And if you know someone could benefitfrom this show or benefit from this
episode, I'm just gonna encourage youright now to share the show with them.
It's a lot of people out there that arestruggling and they need some hope, they
need some direction, and I bring this showevery day to help build that hope, build
that momentum, and build that directionin a positive way, grounded in scripture.
So I just wanna encourage you, sharethe show with somebody that you
(12:10):
know that could benefit from this.
You could point 'em right to ourwebsite that's at financially
confident christian.com.
It's real simple.
Go and send them a text.
Just say, Hey, check this websiteout, or send them an email.
Hey, check out financiallyconfident christian.com.
I also wanna give you a gift today.
If you go to my website, financiallyconfident christian.com says Master.
(12:31):
You can get a free copy of my book.
It's called Mastering Your Finance.
It's just a quick read, but it will beso impactful and it's absolutely free
when you go to that website, financiallyconfident christian.com/master.
Now, tomorrow we'regonna talk about trust.
We're gonna be talking abouttrusting God in uncertainty.
How to make him the anchorof your financial peace.
(12:54):
So I'm gonna encourage you, don't miss it.
Let's go out there andbe financially confident.
Christians, you can do this.
I truly believe in you.
Believe in yourself.
Stay financially savvy.
God bless you, and youhave a great day today.
Ever look at your bank statement and wonder, Hey,
where did all the money go?
Why some purchases feel great andothers, well, they just leave you empty.
What if every dollar you spentwas a direct reflection of
what you truly value in life?
Here's the truth.
It can be Stick with me today.
I'm gonna help you dojust that on today's show.
(00:36):
Hey there, and welcome back to yourDaily Financially Confident Christian.
I'm Ralph, and it's so great that you'vechosen to give me a little bit of your
time again, today we continue our journeyin answering that big question, how can I
become a financially confident Christian?
And we're strongly building afoundation in our new series called
Beyond the Budget, finding FinancialFreedom Through Intentional Living.
(00:59):
We're really talkingabout intentional living.
Yesterday we explored contentmentand gratitude, and I really
hope you caught that episode.
If you didn't, I'm gonnaencourage you to go check it out.
And today we're gonna ask a new question.
This one gets a little deep.
So be ready.
What are my true values and how dothey actually guide my spending?
(01:19):
See, I think it's so important thatwe start to understand our true values
and how they guide your spending.
' cause maybe you spend things on,things that don't really matter to you.
I feel that way many times.
Maybe for you it's a, a closetof clothes you never wear.
Hey, I'm guilty of that sometimes.
My wife said to me one time, she goes,Ralph, on the second floor of the house,
(01:41):
you've got a bunch of clothes up there.
You never even look at.
Guilty is charged.
Or maybe for you it'ssubscriptions that you barely use.
You know, you download asubscription or you, you buy an
app and you just never open it.
I think about on my own iPhone,how many apps I have that
I just never even look at.
And a lot of times the issueis stuff just creates stress.
(02:01):
We add more stuff.
Trying to fill a void, trying to, tryingto fill this emptiness and all that stuff
does is create more stress, not joy.
It kind of, it makes you wannaembrace a minimalist life.
And the truth is, when we reallyexamine our spending, we spend by habit.
Well, we always do that.
That's what we do.
We do this, we do that.
It's a habit.
(02:23):
Or maybe we spend by desire, oh, Iwant to do this, I want to do that.
Or a lot of times, and I think this isone of the big problems we have right
now, is we spend based on social pressure.
But notice I didn't say in any ofthat we spend based on our values,
because a lot of times your spendingdoesn't reflect your values.
(02:46):
When your spending doesn't reflectyour values, that's a disconnect and
that disconnect, to be honest withyou, a hundred percent truthful, it
causes guilt because you're guilty.
I'm not spending on thethings that I truly value.
It causes regret becausethe money's gone in.
You're thinking, Hey,but what if I done this?
(03:06):
What if I did that?
What if I was more charitable?
What if I helped my, my family?
The trifecta of this, it causes stress.
See, because right now as you'relistening, you're probably
saying, Ralph, I work hard.
I truly do.
I put in the hours, man.
I put in the reps. You work hard, butyour money doesn't serve your purpose.
(03:28):
But here's the thing, and I want youto hear this loud and clear today.
Every dollar that you spend,Is a vote for what you value.
I'm gonna say that again 'cause it'sso important that you hear me today.
Every dollar that you spendis a vote for what you value.
(03:49):
Now you might be saying, great.
Okay, that sounds good, Ralph.
But here's the problem.
If you don't define these values,society's gonna define them for you.
And oftentimes, if we're honestwith ourselves, we allow society
to, to really define our values.
In the end, God calls usto live intentionally.
I talk about intentionality isalmost a whole point of this new
(04:11):
series, and God calls us to liveintentionally and to steward wisely.
Look at the book of Proverbs.
Open up the chapter four verse 23.
It says this, above all else,guard your heart for everything
you do, flows from it.
Now that's impactful.
If you think about that aboveall else, above anything else
(04:34):
that you do, guard your heart
for everything you do, flows from it.
Your money flows from your heartbecause it's something that you do.
Right?
And when our values align with ourfinancial choices, when we really
think about this is what my valuesare, and we align those with our
(04:56):
financial decisions, with our spendingchoices, then money becomes a useful
tool for joyful purpose-filled living.
'cause in the end this is aboutstewardship, not restriction.
A lot of people say, oh,Ralph, here he goes again.
He cannot talk about where I can'tspend money and I shouldn't spend
my, it's not what I'm saying at all.
(05:16):
But when you align your values withyour spending, that tool now becomes
a joyful purpose-filled living, andyou're able to live in abundance,
not restriction, and rather thanstress and want and guilt and fear.
You live in a place of joy andclarity and peace, and hey,
isn't that what you want today?
(05:37):
So I've sold you on that.
Now you're saying, Ralph, what can we do?
How, how do, how do you spend inalignment with your true values?
Well, here's where the solution starts.
It starts by identifying your core valuesand aligning your spending to match them.
And then you've got to just say, look,I'm gonna let my values guide every
single financial decision that I make.
(05:59):
And now I'm gonna tell you how to do that.
Here's your action step for today.
I want you to identify yourtop three to five core values.
Spend about 10 or 15 minutes justreflecting on what are your true core
values, what matters most to you?
Is it family?
Is family important to you?
How about your faith?
You're listening to this, Ibet faith is important to you.
(06:22):
How about your health?
A lot of people say, we hate with health.
Health, I don't have anything.
Maybe it's freedom.
It's the ability to not be chained or inthat, in those cycle of financial shame.
As I talked about, maybe one of yourvalues is generosity, and I just want you
to, to spend about 10 or 15 minutes andjust write three to four or five of those.
Write them down.
For example, we talked about faith.
(06:44):
Maybe, you know, staying spirituallyconnected and trusting God's
provision is important to you.
If it's family, maybe prioritizingtime and and caring for loved
ones is important to you.
Maybe maintaining your physical andmental wellbeing is important to you,
or having margin and flexibility andnot being controlled by money or as I
(07:05):
mentioned, generosity, helping othersthrough giving and through service.
Just write 3, 4, 5 of those thingsdown and really put them pen to
paper, and I want you to do that.
I want you to go back, and this is thehard part, review your recent spending.
I'm gonna do what I call the values test.
Look at your tracker, look atyour budget and ask yourself this
(07:25):
very difficult, deep question.
Does this spendingtruly reflect my values?
As an example, let's say you're,you're, you're all about health, but
then you look at your spending and youspent $180 on fast food last month.
I don't know about you, but Idon't think that's very healthy.
I'm not judging you.
Your value is health.
(07:47):
And then you went and spent$180 on fast food last month.
And if you, if you're honest withyourself, that doesn't align with your
desire to feel better and live longer.
Now, maybe one of yourvalues is generosity.
It's a great value to have,but your budget shows no giving
to churches or any causes.
You're generous, where if generositymatters to you, you may wanna reallocate
(08:08):
some of that discretionary spending.
So rather than doing the things thatyou're doing for fun or whatever it
is, if generosity is important toyou, then allocate money to that.
Maybe for you family's valuable.
You're, you're paying for fourstreaming services but haven't
had a real family night in weeks.
Yeah.
You've got the streaming services comingin, you've got the Netflix and the Prime
(08:30):
and the Paramount, whatever those thingsare when you look at your spending, you
haven't really had family night in weeks.
So maybe for you, you gotta canceltwo of those services and just use
that money for a weekly family dinner,or go for a hike or go do something
fun as a family, not worry aboutthose doggone streaming services.
And then I just want you to do onemore thing, and that's plan one.
(08:54):
Value aligned change.
You made those core value decisions,you looked at your spending, and just
pick one decision to change this week.
Whether that's cutting an expense,redirecting funds, maybe saying no to
those impulse buys because this is wherethe rubber meets the road, my friend.
You make your money match your value.
So let's say we get back tothat health thing and you say,
(09:15):
well, here's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna skip takeout and cooka healthy meal at home twice this
week, and I'm gonna use that savingsto buy quality grocery shop the
outside of the store, as they say.
Maybe faith's important to youand you're gonna begin tithing
a small amount consistently.
Hey, even five, 10, $20 aweek, because that's important.
You value that so yourfinances honor God first.
(09:37):
Maybe for you, it's that freedom.
You wanna cancel a subscription youdon't use and put that even, Hey,
listen, even 15 bucks extra towardspaying off a small debt or building that
emergency fund that we talked about.
If family's important to you, maybeblock out Friday night for, for
screen free game time or dinneror or some kind of family event.
And again, if generosity is importantto you, set up a $10 a month recurring
(10:01):
donation to a cause you believe in,Hey, tie the two things together
and as a family, talk about that.
Can you do service?
Can you find a causethat's important for you?
Hey, these are all things that you value.
I'm not telling you what to value.
In the first step you mentionedyou wrote down what you want to
value and see, here's why thishelps, because here's a truth bomb.
(10:22):
Misaligned spending equals stress.
If your spending's not alignedwith your value, you're gonna have
stress, you're gonna have guilt,and you're gonna have what I called
a couple days ago, that drift.
But here's the beauty of whatwe've talked about today.
Value align choices.
When you choose to align yourspending with your values.
(10:42):
That equates to peace.
It equates to satisfactionand it equates to direction.
And then that tool, that money we talkedabout, it becomes a vehicle for purpose.
Well, let's pray together.
Father God, we thank you forgiving us purpose and giving
us calling in our lives.
And we confess, Lord, that weoften spend without direction.
(11:05):
We just go with whateversociety tells us to do.
We don't really look at our core valuesand the values that are important to You.
So, Lord, we just ask first, that youwould help us identify our values and
then align our choices with those values.
God grant us clarity, grant uswisdom, and grant us discipline,
Lord, to let our money glorify you.
(11:27):
And we ask this with confidence.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Listen.
When your money votes foryour values, peace follows.
So I just wanna encourage you, taketime to today to identify your values.
Make one aligned financial choice, justone ' cause you're moving towards freedom.
(11:49):
And if you know someone could benefitfrom this show or benefit from this
episode, I'm just gonna encourage youright now to share the show with them.
It's a lot of people out there that arestruggling and they need some hope, they
need some direction, and I bring this showevery day to help build that hope, build
that momentum, and build that directionin a positive way, grounded in scripture.
So I just wanna encourage you, sharethe show with somebody that you
(12:10):
know that could benefit from this.
You could point 'em right to ourwebsite that's at financially
confident christian.com.
It's real simple.
Go and send them a text.
Just say, Hey, check this websiteout, or send them an email.
Hey, check out financiallyconfident christian.com.
I also wanna give you a gift today.
If you go to my website, financiallyconfident christian.com says Master.
(12:31):
You can get a free copy of my book.
It's called Mastering Your Finance.
It's just a quick read, but it will beso impactful and it's absolutely free
when you go to that website, financiallyconfident christian.com/master.
Now, tomorrow we'regonna talk about trust.
We're gonna be talking abouttrusting God in uncertainty.
How to make him the anchorof your financial peace.
(12:54):
So I'm gonna encourage you, don't miss it.
Let's go out there andbe financially confident.
Christians, you can do this.
I truly believe in you.
Believe in yourself.
Stay financially savvy.
God bless you, and youhave a great day today.
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Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.