Episode 31 | What Are You Protecting? Protecting What God Has Placed in Your Hands

What are you protecting?

Most of us spend our lives asking God for more.

A bigger house.

More money.

A better opportunity.

Greater influence.

A stronger business.

But what if we've been asking the wrong question?

What if the real question isn't, "What do you want God to give you?"

What if it's...

"How well are you protecting what He's already placed in your hands?"

In this episode of Life, Finance, & Real Estate with KirbyTheRealtor®, we explore the importance of stewardship and why the greatest blessings in our lives are often lost not through one catastrophic moment, but through small acts of neglect over time.

We'll discuss:

• Protecting your faith before you lose your passion.
• Protecting your family before distance becomes division.
• Protecting your finances through wise stewardship.
• Protecting your peace in a world full of distractions.
• Protecting your purpose by staying focused on what matters most.

Whether you're building a business, leading a family, pursuing financial freedom, or simply trying to become a better steward of what God has entrusted to you, this conversation will encourage you to think differently about success, responsibility, and legacy.

Remember...

You don't have to protect everything.

But you should protect what matters most.

Because I don't just teach you how to earn it...

I teach you how to sustain it.

Success. Purpose. Growth.

Own your life... so you can own a piece of America.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Life, Finance and Real Estate, where we discuss how to make smart money moves, the ever-changing real estate market, and of course, things going on in life. And here to talk about it more with you is your host, Kirby the Rick.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Stay down camera, stay down camo, stay down came up, let me tell you about it.

SPEAKER_03 1:32

Welcome back to another episode of Life Finance and Real Estate with the girl Kirby the Realtor. As always, I want to start by thanking you. Thanking you for allowing me to spend part of your afternoon with you each and every week. Whether you're listening on 92.1, WJMG, catching a replay on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, or 106.3, wherever you listen to today's podcast, thank you. I never take time for granted because this show has never been about getting more listeners. It's always been about helping people make better decisions, better decisions about their life, better decision about money, better decision about home ownership, leadership, just better decision about the legacy that we leave behind. Because if you're listening and have been listening for a while, you already know. I don't just teach you how to what? I don't just teach you how to earn it. I teach you how to sustain it. And family, guess what? That word sustain has been a part of my heart for quite a while. Um, because it's it's something, it's one thing to build something, y'all, but it's another thing to keep it. You can build a house, but will you keep it? You can build a family, but can you keep it together? Last week we talked about something that really challenged me as a person. Um, and I hope that it challenged you, but I asked the question who's helping you build? We talked about choosing the right builders, the right voices, the right mentors, the right people to hold the blueprint of your future. But after that show ended, God let me just he wouldn't leave me alone. He wouldn't let me stop there because after you build something, after you choose the right people, after you lay the foundation, there's another question every one of us has to answer. What are you protecting? You know, one of the things I love about real estate is walking through homes with buyers. Um, some of the homes can be brand new, some can be five years old, some can be 50 or 60-year-old homes. And sometimes the people will say, Kirby, why does this house still look so good and it's so much older? And you know, my answer is it's not usually that it's built better, which I could say back in the day, they took their time, you know, building homes. It may have taken a while to build, you know, and people felt like you know, those older homes has good bones, which is true, you know. They don't build things like they used to, just like us individuals. We're not built like we used to be built. Um, but it's because somebody maintained that house, though. You think about it. If I think about just today, there was a home I I met a couple at, and the home probably was about 16, 17 years old, and they walked through that house like you can't even tell they lived here. But listen, y'all, they kept it maintained, like the gutters, the roof, the it was just clean, the flooring. You can't tell anybody lived in it. Like it was it was good. They took care of it. So my answer was, you know, they they took care of it, they protected their home, they made sure they gave it the attention it needed. Um somebody replaced the roof before it leaked. They changed out their air filters, you know, instead of letting it get all clogged up, they dusted the home, they made sure spider webs didn't build up. They, you know, they pressure washed, they repaired small cracks when it happened. Um, they cared enough to protect what they had. And it made me realize that life, our life, it works the same way. Healthy marriages don't just stay healthy by accident, it takes work. Strong finances don't stay strong by accident. It takes work, y'all. I'm still right now just learning. When I say learning, it's not that I don't know how, but I'm just being a better steward of what God gives me over my finances. You know, you now you are learning. Um, when I say you are now, I'm really, really just trying to make sure y'all learn ahead of time because it took me all these years to figure out I have to know where every penny is going, and it's for a good reason. It's for it's to protect me. Successful business people don't remain successful by accident, y'all. It's the small things, the habits, good health. It's not by accident. You just have to do it. Watch what you eat, watch what you do, exercise, having strong faith, stand in your word, praying. You know, somebody protected it, somebody maintained it, somebody refused to neglect what matters. Here's something I've learned protection is proof of value. Think about that. We ensure our homes, right? We we lock our cars, we password protect our phones, we put money in the saves or wherever in the savers account, save deposit box, we install cameras, we back up our computers, our cell phones. Why? Because we protect what we value. So let me ask you something. If someone followed you around for the next seven days, what would they conclude that you value the most? Because what you consistently protect usually reveals what you truly treasured. And that question, y'all, challenged me, not because I didn't like the answer, but because it made me realize that we that we're it made me realize that were some areas where I had to become more focused on building. Um I just became more focused on building things than actually protecting. And I wonder if that's true for some of y'all listening today. Sometimes you can be working so hard trying to protect the next or get the next blessing that we forget to protect the blessing we already have. Y'all, even just our life itself, it's a gift. It's a gift. Um, we pray for better marriage, right? But are we protecting the one we already have? We pray for more money, but are you protecting the money God already entrusted to you? We pray for more opportunities, but are we protecting our reputation? We pray for these bigger platforms, but are you protecting your character? Sometimes we're asking God to give us more, right? And when He's asking us, um, what have you done with what I already given you? And that question isn't meant to like make you feel guilty, but it's meant to produce stewardship, accountability, because stewardship says, I recognize that everything I have is a gift. It's a gift from God, and I have a responsibility to take care of it well, right? I'll give you an example. I think I've said it on the show before, but my dad, you know, used to um, he'll get an old car and he'll fix it up or whatever. So we we would ride in whatever was in the yard. And I remember when I started driving, my dad would give me, it was this one car we called the putt-put car, y'all. But I I took care of my putt-put. And me taking care of my putt-put, even though my friends were driving, you know, their parents' cars and all that stuff, it showed my dad that I valued what I had. I cleaned it, I kept it clean, I washed it, all of it. Even though I was embarrassed of the noise it made, putt- put, I took care of it. I can give you another example. Um, I'm on, I work with Habitat. Um, well, I'm on the board, right? And then there's a housing side of it where we see people and we look at families and they visit the homes, and sometimes people don't just have the best conditions that they're living in. And this one particular person had a home and it wasn't much, y'all, like, but she valued her home. She had her table set, it was decorated nice. You would look at the exterior and not think that it was so nice on the inside, even though the foundation was falling apart and the subfloor was giving in, and you could probably smell the mold when you walked in. Even the front porch looked good. They made sure it was she took care, she takes care of um that home. And and that's just that's just being grateful and that's being a good steward. Um, I'm gonna quit rambling, but anyway, that brings me to what I believe is the most important thing you will ever protect. And surprisingly, it's not your house, it's not your bank account, your career, not even your business, y'all, but it is your heart. Because if the heart isn't healthy, eventually everything else begins to suffer. And that's exactly where we're going next. Guard your heart before you guard your house. Listen, family. Can I tell you something that I've learned over the years? The most valuable thing in life usually aren't the things you can touch, they're the things you can't touch. It's the integrity, your peace, your faith, your character, your joy, your relationships. Those are the things that determines the quality of life. And yet, those are often the very things y'all we neglect. The Bible says in Proverbs 4 and 23, above all else, guard your what? Guard your heart for everything you do flows from me. I love that scripture because it says, above all else, guard your heart, not after everything else, not when you have time, not once your career is established, not once your kids are grown, and not once you retire. Above all else, guard your heart. Why, Kirby? Because everything else flows from it. Think about that. If bitterness gets in your heart, it affects your marriage. If fear gets in your heart, it affects your decision. If pride gets in your heart, it affects your leadership. If unforgiveness gets in your heart, I hear you, Lord. It affects your relationships that you have. The heart, y'all, is the source. If the source becomes polluted, everything downstream is affected. Do you hear me? Here's another question I have. I've had to ask myself recently who has access to me? And I want you to ask yourself that. Who has access to you? Not everybody who has your phone number should have your attention. Now everybody who follows you on social media should influence your thinking. Now everybody who speaks into your life has earned the right to shape your future. See, we live in a world where everyone has an opinion. Social media has given everyone a microphone, right? But just because someone is loud doesn't mean they're wise. Just because they're confident and they're great on camera doesn't mean they're right. Family, listen, you have to become sensitive about who has access to your heart. Because access is a privilege. It is a privilege, not a right. I remember what we talked about last week. Um, if you remember, we asked who's helping you build, right? Today, let me add another question. Who's helping you protect what you build? Because builders and protectors aren't always the same people. Some people love celebrating your success, but very few people will help you preserve it. I need you to protect your peace. Can we talk about peace for just a minute? Just a minute. I think peace has become one of the most undervalued assets we have, y'all. And I'm just learning this here. I'm 41 years old, and I'm just learning to protect my peace. Because let me tell you something. You can always make more money. You can buy another car, you can build another business. But once your peace is gone, everything else feels so much heavier. When you don't have peace, y'all, it's just everything just feels like a burden. Have you ever noticed that the smallest inconvenience feels like the biggest problem when you're carrying stress? That's why I've learned something. Sometimes protecting peace means disappointing people, right? Sometimes it means saying no. You know, no, no to the unnecessary drama, no to the constant negativity, no to the conversations that don't make you a better person, no to guilt, no to comparison, no to carrying burdens that God never asked you to carry. Let me tell you something. Every yes is also a no. When you say yes to things that drain you, you're saying no to something that could have strengthened you. You hear me? When you say yes, knowing that that drains you, and you just like you said yes out of I don't want to hurt somebody's feelings, right? But you're saying no to something that could have strengthened you. If you had a said no, you could have kept your peace, right? Every hour you spend in unnecessary conflict is an hour you can't spill bending building on your purpose. Let me say that again. Every hour you spend in unnecessary, unnecessary conflict is an hour you can't spill. Um, you can't spend building your purpose. Protect your peace. Not because you're trying to avoid people, y'all, but because you're trying to remain effective, protect your peace. You know, this reminds me of something I see all the time in in real estate, right? People think homes lose value overnight. But guess what? They do not. Most homes decline because of small things that were ignored. A loose shingle, a drip and faucet, um, a claw glut gutter, a crack in the foundation, or an issue by itself. One issue by itself doesn't seem like much, right? And you ignore it and it gets bigger and bigger. Year after year, those problems become a little more expensive to repair because you didn't take care of it. You didn't take care of it when it arose. Life, y'all, is no different. Marriages don't usually end because of one conversation. It's the conversations that never happen. Business rarely fail because of one bad day. They fail because of months of neglected decisions or months of neglected stewardship. Friendships don't disappear overnight. Communication slowly fades, right? Trust slowly erodes, distance quietly grows. The greatest threat to our lives weren't always the storms, y'all. Sometimes they're the things we've learned to ignore. And listen to what I said. Sometimes you learn to ignore things, you see issues, you see problems, but because you are avoiding conflict, because I don't like confrontations. You know, there's a time and season, there's a way, there's there's there's a time, but you can't allow things to fester and keep going. And it's like cancer, the little small things, y'all. It eats you alive. Those things we've learned to ignore. That brings me to our finances. One of the questions I hear the most is Kirby, how do I make more money? And while that's a good question, I think the other, I think there's another question we should ask first, though. How do I protect the money I'm already making? But before you ask me that though, you better have your mind right. You better be, you better be, you better have it together. Because sometimes people, you know, you ask questions, but the pro the question is, are you ready though? Are you ready? Because earning more doesn't automatically create wealth, right? Keeping more often does. Think about it. If every raise you receive immediately becomes another payment, you're making more, but you're not moving forward. If every bonus is spent before it reaches your account, you're increasing your income, but you're not increasing stability. I said this before and I'll say it again. Financial freedom isn't determined by how much comes in, it's determined by how much remains after you made wise decisions. Because yes, you may have the money, but is it wise for me to fix it? I can tell you right now, it's so much that I want to do in my yard and with my home. And just because I'm making money, it's not wise for me to spend that money to do those things right now. An emergency fund protects your future, y'all. Insurance protects you, protects your family. A budget protects your goals. If you got a goal and you can't stay within budget, you're never gonna get there. Living below your means protects your peace. Those aren't restrictions. Stop looking at it as if it's a restriction or if it's holding. There's safeguards because stewardship, y'all, having stewardship is not teaching you to be scared or fearful. It's just teaching you to prepare wisely for tomorrow while being faithful today. You know, family, as I was preparing for today's show, I realized something. Some of the greatest things God has entrusted to us, it doesn't have a dollar value attached to it. I think our children, our friendships, our spouses, reputations, our influence, your purpose, you can't insure those things the way you insure your house and your car. You can't replace them with a trip to the store because once they're damaged, the repair can take longer than the damage itself. You know how we tell people a lot of times with one of my businesses that it don't take long to put on weight, right? But it takes twice as long to get that weight off. And that's why I believe the greatest gift you'll ever, well, not the greatest gift, but the greatest investment you'll ever make won't be in real estate, won't be in the stock market, it won't be in your business. It will be in the people that God has placed in your life. And let's talk about that. Because at the end of the day, y'all, success isn't about what you accomplish. It's about who you become while you're accomplishing it. I've met people with beautiful homes but broken relationships, y'all. I've met people with successful business but no peace. I've met people who has had everything money could buy, but they're spiritually exhausted. Listen, family. Don't spend your life protecting things and forget to protect people. Don't spend so much time building your career. I am guilty that your family only gets what's left of you. Don't become so focused on making a living that you forget to make a life. I'm very intentional with my children because I, yeah, I'm gonna tell y'all something. Don't during that COVID era era, I was just about like, I'm I'm going, I'm going, I'm going. I gotta make money, I gotta make money. I feel like I missed a year or two of my kids' life. Because one day, y'all, the the awards won't matter. The titles won't matter, the square footage won't matter. The questions won't, they won't be, how much did you accumulate? The question will be how well did you steward what God trusted you with? Think about your children. Where are they? Where are they mentally? How do they feel emotionally? Did they have a mom or dad? They could talk to that. Includes your marriage, your friendships, your influence, your health, your finances, your faith. Those are all gifts, and gifts are meant to be steward and steward well, not taken for granted. You know, as I've gotten older, I've just realized I'm spending less time asking God to give me more, and I'm spending more time asking him to help me take better care of what he's already given me. Help me be a better wife, help me be a better mom, help me be a better broker, help me, God, be a better leader, help me be a better friend, help me be a better steward over what you've given me. Because if I can't faithfully manage today's blessing, why would I expect tomorrow's blessing to be any different? Y'all, that perspective has changed me. If I can't faithfully manage today's blessing, why would I expect tomorrow's blessing to be any different? And instead of always looking ahead, I've learned to appreciate what's already in my hands. So before we leave today, I want to leave you with one question. Not one for you to answer out loud, but one for you to think about the rest of the week. If God inspected your life today, not your house, not your bank accounts, not your social media, but if God inspected your life today, would he find that you're faithfully protecting what he has entrusted to you? Would he find a heart that's being guarded, relationships that are being nurtured, a reputation? That's being protected, finances that are being stored wisely, a purpose that's being pursued intentionally. None of us will answer yes to every one of those areas. I know I can't. I'm gonna speak for me. But that's the beauty of growth. We don't have to be perfect, we just have to be intentionally intentional. So, family, thank you for spending another Thursday afternoon with me. I hope today's conversation encouraged you to slow down this week. Look around. I hope it encouraged you to appreciate what God has already placed in your hands and to remember not everything valuable has a price tag. Some of the greatest treasures you will ever have. Call you mom, they call you dad, they call you friend, they call you husband, they call you wife or simply, they just call your name. I need you to protect those treasures, love those treasures, invest in those treasures because they are your legacy. And I'm gonna leave you with what I call a Kirbyism. What you consistently protect reveals what you truly value. And one more, don't become so focused on building the next chapter of your life that you neglect the people who have been there since chapter one. Thank you again for joining me for another episode of Life Finance and Real Estate. And as always, y'all, I don't just teach you how to what? I don't just teach you how to earn it, I teach you how to sustain it. Until next time, protect your peace, protect your purpose, protect your family, protect your faith, and protect the life God has entrusted to you because when you learn to faithfully steward what you have, you'll be prepared for what God has next. So until next week, own your life so you can what? On peace of America, God bless you, family. We will see you next Thursday. Bye for now.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

See you soon. Thank you for tuning in to Life, Finance, and Real Estate with Kirby the Realtor. You can catch us every Thursday at 12 p.m. on 92.1 WJMG, 93.1 WGDQ. And also you can listen live at 921 WJMG.com or 931 WGDQ.com. If you happen to miss the live recording, don't fret. We'll replay it at 6 p.m. tonight. Thank you once again for listening to Life, Finance, and Real Estate.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

Let me tell you about it. I've been walking in the spirit.