How Do You Shift from a Consumer Mindset to Biblical Stewardship?

Speaker A00:00:00

Hey, let's face it.Every single day, your heart is being trained not by some class, not by a church sermon on Sunday, but by the apps on your phone, by the ads in your feed, and by the checkout buttons that remember your card. And they keep whispering the same message over and over. You'll feel better if you do this. You deserve this. Just one click and you'll find happiness.And here's what's wild. It actually works. And it works not because you're weak, not because you're irresponsible, but because repetition reshapes your heart.Yeah, over time, it just does. So, friend, what if I told you there's a gentler way to live with money?A way that doesn't leave you feeling guilty every time you check your account. A way that brings peace instead of pressure because God invites you into something far different. Not to buy less. You can feel bad, but.But the steward. Well, so you can actually breathe. Today, we're going to walk through that shift together. So here's the question you and I are answering today.How do you shift from a consumer mindset to biblical stewardship? And here's what you're going to walk away with today. We're going to understand the difference between the two things clearly.You're going to feel less shame about where you've been, and you'll have one simple practice. You can start today. I'm talking about today, tomorrow, and the rest of your lives. Not when you get it all together today. Hey, friend.Ralph Estep Jr. Here.Welcome to Financially Confident Christian, where we learn how to walk through life and money with wisdom, with peace, and with a heart anchored in God's truth. My mission on the show is simple.I want to help you break that cycle of financial shame and build those steady habits rooted in faith and truly become financially confident Christians. And I'm so glad you're here today. Yesterday, we talked about building confidence with money.Not the loud, showy kind of confidence, the steady, quiet kind to it actually calms your nerves and better than all those things, helps you sleep at night. Today, we're going to go one layer deeper. Believe it or not, there, we're going to go deeper.Today we're looking at the identity behind your money choices. Because here's the truth. When your posture changes, your practice changes, and those small identity shifts can bring lasting peace.And I love what this listener wrote in recently and said, ralph, I keep spending to feel better in the moment, but then I feel guilty later. How do I stop consuming and start stewarding? And I just want to say, friend, thank you so much for that question.This is one of the bravest, most honest questions that you can actually ask. And if you're listening right now or you're watching, you ever felt that same way.If you ever bought something just to feel a little relief, then regretted it later, you're in the right place today. Let me ask you something. Have you ever checked your bank balance and. And felt this quick wave of shame wash over you? I know I've done it many times.Have you ever made a purchase that brought relief for just a split second, but then maybe an hour later or the next day, you felt regret? And maybe you've wondered, why do I keep doing this? Let me tell you right now, friend, you're not alone in that. And it's not some big character flaw.This is a cultivated response. But here's the good news. Anything that's been cultivated can be changed. And that's exactly what we're going to talk about today.Because here's the truth I want you to hear. You didn't become a consumer overnight. You were trained into it by a thousand little messages, by a world designed to make spending easy.And here's what that means. Anything trained can be untrained. You're not stuck. You're not too far gone. You can reorient your heart and your habits one small step at a time.And I've seen this shift happen with clients that I've worked with for 30 years, with listeners just like you. They didn't start perfect. They started small. But they started steady.And over time, their lives became calmer, their money became more purposeful, and their hearts became lighter. And guess what? You can do the same. Today I remember working with someone who said this to me. They said, ralph, I buy stuff when I'm tired.I don't even want it. I just need to feel better for a minute. But guess what? Then I feel worse. And we stopped right there. Now, I didn't label her as weak.We didn't pile on more. Girl, I could have done that. But we named the pattern that she was feeling instead of that. And then I gave her one simple practice to try, just one.And within a few weeks is what she told me. She said, ralph, all of a sudden, I feel less rushed. I feel like I can actually think before I spend. And that small change right there created space.And space created peace. So the deeper question is this. Who are you in relation to your money? Are you a consumer who chases comfort? Or are you a steward who assigns Purpose.See, the answer to that question changes everything. So let's slow this down and make this really clear. We're talking about a shift today. We're trying to shift from consumer to. To steward.Now, this isn't about being more religious with money, but it's about becoming more peaceful with money. Let me show you what I mean. A consumer mindset quietly says, this. This is my money. I earned it. I deserve it. I decide what happens with it.And as you're saying that, you're probably saying, ralph, that's normal, right? That that's how we feel. Correct. It feels normal because that's how most of us were taught.But here's what it creates underneath pressure, Big time pressure. Because if it's all yours, guess what? Then it's all on you. Every single bill, every money mistake you make, every unexpected expense.And that weight builds over time, and it shapes your choices and it shapes how you sleep at night or how you don't sleep at night. But stewardship says something completely different. It says, this wasn't given to me. I manage it. I'm accountable. But I'm not alone.Now, this doesn't remove responsibility. A lot of people say, well, Ralph, what you're talking about is, I don't need to be responsible. No, it just reframes it.You're not gripping that money tightly anymore. You're holding with open hands. And those open hands, they're calmer hands. When you remember the source, you can breathe again.See, most spending isn't driven by greed. It's driven by the need to feel better. Right now, after a long day, we can all feel this. It's been a long day. What do you do?You grab your phone, you start scrolling, you put something on from Amazon. Oh, yeah, I can have relief now. Maybe you've had a hard conversation with your loved ones.And maybe after you're scrolling, you're comparing yourself to others. We all feel these things, don't we? And spending becomes a quick fix. And it works. Briefly, it works great, doesn't it?But then over time, that relief fades. And then the cycle repeats. Relief, regret, repeat. Relief, regret, repeat. It's a vicious cycle.But stewards ask a different question, and this is hard. What is the money for? Not after you've spent it. Because guess what? Once you spend, it's too late. But before it even moves.See, that purpose slows the decisions down. Not with guilt, but with clarity. And with that clarity, you don't feel restricted. You feel intentional.One purpose can change a hundred small choices because we all have the bad days, we have the long week, we have that scroll, click, check. I've been stuck in that cycle so many times. We don't pause, we don't plan, we just react. And that doesn't mean you lack discipline.It means the system is designed to remove friction. Hey, that's why it works. Companies profit when you act without pause. Companies profit when you just do it.Used to be a slogan in the United States, just do it. And that's a reality we have to recognize. But stewardship adds that breadth. A one line question, a tiny delay. Ask yourself this.Do I really need this? Is this aligned with what matters to me? Is this helping the future me? Not every time. I don't expect you to do this every time.And not perfectly, but often enough to change the pattern. A pause changes your brain and it rewires the habit. See, what I've seen so often is consumers carry quiet guilt.And they carry that guilt because money has no direction. Those small purchases feel heavy over time. Even money you earned comes with stress.Yeah, you did earn it, but you still bring that stress along, even the things you enjoy. But there's a shadow of that. And that guilt wears you down over time. And stewards are going to face tight months. Guess what? I'm not telling.I don't have an antidote to being in a tough situation. But when they make hard choices, they have limited margin. But there's no shame anymore. Or less shame. I'll say, why?Because their money is moving on purpose. And that purpose brings peace even when the numbers are small. But this is important. Stewardship is identity work, not rule farming.It's real easy to say, well, Ralph, what you're really talking about is getting into a set of rules. That's not what I'm saying at all. It's not about trying harder. It's about seeing yourself differently. That's why I call it.It's your intention, it's your identity. It's saying, I am learning to manage what God entrusted to me. I am a good steward. It's that identity shift.And when your identity shifts, the behavior follows because you don't force discipline you, you grow into it. And this doesn't start with perfect budgets. If you think you're going to get a perfect budget, it's not going to happen right away.It starts small, giving that one single dollar a purpose. Or maybe it's that pause before one purchase, maybe one intentional transfer to that savings account or to that emergency fund.And what happens is over time, those moments add up. Because you're not aiming for perfection. You're tuning your heart to in a new direction. And that that's enough.Which leads us to our scripture today comes from Psalm 24:1, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. And friend, you might say at first, Ralph, okay, I hear what you're saying there, but you're thinking that's all about control.This verse isn't about control. It's about relief. And here's why there's relief in this. You were never meant to carry the weight of ownership alone.And see that truth alone can lift a heavy load off your shoulders because it frees you to manage faithfully. Not perfectly, just faithfully. So here's what I want you to do today. I want you to grab a piece of paper or open up your notes app on your phone.I want you to write this sentence. You ready for it? One way I will practice stewardship this week is. And then finish that sentence, just one concrete choice.For example, make maybe you set up a small weekly savings transfer. Hey, even if it's five bucks, you do that. Or maybe you do a pause 24 hours before any non essential purchase.Or maybe assign a specific category for giving this month. But I want you to keep it simple. I want you to do that one thing today. And then tomorrow do one more small thing.And you're going to grow this chain of confidence that's going to grow by repetition. Because a steward's heart grows. Grows the same way. Let's pray together. Lord, thank you for what you've entrusted to us.Help us release the grip of compulsive consumption. Teach us to steward with grace and with wisdom and give us clarity for one small step today. And calm our hearts as we learn.And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Friend.If you want a safe place to grow, a place where you can talk about money without judgment, without shame and without pressure, I want to encourage you. Come join us at financiallyconfidentchristian.com/join again. That's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/join.So many people have told me, Ralph, I finally feel safe talking about money again. I don't feel judged here. This is a support I didn't even know I needed. Because friend, you don't have to figure this all out alone.We're walking this path together. So as I close today, remember this stewardship is posture, not perfection. You don't have to fix everything today.You just got to take one faithful step. That's it. Now, tomorrow we're going to talk about something powerful. Money and identity.While your worth isn't in your while, tomorrow is going to be a blockbuster.And if today's message helped you, I want to encourage you share this episode with someone who needs a little gentleness, someone who needs a little encouragement. Because this show isn't about financial shame.It's about learning to walk in wisdom, staying financially savvy, and truly becoming financially confident Christians. God bless you, friend. And I'll see you on tomorrow's show.