Review: Last week Friday we saw that financial bondage can grow out of many
factors such as; lack of money, overspending, misunderstanding of how money is to
be spent etc.… We also discovered that debt and borrowing is the most common
pathway into financial bondage. And I quoted someone that defined debt as
"using your future to pay for your past". This pathway (debt and
borrowing) into financial bondage has been made a permanent part of our lives
even as Christians, which is not God's plan for us.
On this week's edition, we will be looking at what God says about
debt and borrowing, how it affects our faith and how we can be free from it.
Please read with rapt attention!
Before you begin your journey to get out of debt, it is important to
know what the Bible says about debt. You can then use these truths to build
your faith since faith comes by hearing the word. Once you have a solid
understanding of what God has to say about the issue, then you can boldly pray
about your debt in FAITH.
What does the Bible say about debt and borrowing?
The bible doesn't say that debt or borrowing is a sin. But I stand
to say, it is a weight we need to lay aside because it’s a drag.
Hebrews 12:1 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us".
Debt and borrowing is not God's plan for us. I believe God would
love to see His children living debt-free lives. But as stewards of the money
that He has entrusted to us we have a free will to do what we wish with it. We
can choose to give it, save it, or even spend more than we have.
However, everywhere that debt or borrowing is mentioned in the
Bible, it is discussed with a negative light.
Proverbs 22:7, "The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender"
The borrower is a slave to the lender. When you are in debt to
another you enter into a slave/master relationship with your creditor. That's
why the bible counsels us to avoid debt.
If you do borrow you must pay back all of your debt.
Psalms 37:21 "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth"
If we do not want to be counted among the "wicked", we
must repay the debt we owe. It really doesn't matter if the circumstances are
beyond our control. If we make debt we are stuck with it. But God wants us to
lend to others. Obviously, this is difficult if you don't have anything to
lend. But that yoke of lack is broken.
Deuteronomy 15:6" For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee."
Therefore how does borrowing affects our faith?
Note: Borrowing diminishes our faith as Christians.
I have a question for you: who do you put your trust in to meet every
of your need? It is very easy to say you trust in God, but if you
habitually borrow money, your action indicate that the truth may lie elsewhere.
Now check this: the easiest way to tell who you trust is to examine what you do
when you are in need. God owns everything in the world and He promised to
provide everything we need in life.
Come to think of it: it is sometimes difficult to trust in the unseen especially when it
would be easy to go borrow to meet some needs.
There are several problems with this. This first is that – debt is
financial slavery, and borrowing does more harm than good. The second is
deeper- it diminishes your faith, because it teaches you not to rely on God.
Habits shape your thinking – like so many things in life, the
decisions that we make in individual circumstances begin to turn into habits
when we do them repeatedly. Habits in turn affect the way that we think and our
thoughts control the very course of our lives. By disciplining ourselves with
good habits, we can overcome our struggles and achieve great things. So it goes
with debt and borrowing. When there is a moment of need in your life you have
Choice: you can trust in God to meet that need for you (and then do what He
asks of you in order to receive provision), or you can go find someone else to
"meet" the need by lending you money (never minding the fact that you
are subjecting yourself into slavery). Putting your trust in God places your
future in His hands, making you His servant.
Bad habits creates addiction – I'm not saying all borrowing is
inherently sinful (scriptures teaches that debt is inherently unwise, but it
doesn't go so far to say that borrowing is a sin). What I'm saying is borrowing
creates bad habits, and those bad habits can put distance between us and God.
Yes borrowing sometimes can help you out of lack in the short term but in the
long run, that debt just creates more pain in your life. A borrower takes on
debt to get through a bad situation, and then reaches the point where he can't
pay his bills without borrowing money. Good habits creates discipline, bad
habits only create addiction.
The ultimate tragedy of the cycle is that when you begin to depend
on debt to float you through your financial trials, you hinder God from
revealing His goodness to you in that area of life. He is our provider, but if
you are hooked on another source of money, (borrowing) you miss out on that
aspect of who He is and may not experience that reality and how He loves us. Borrowing
money diminishes God's role in your life and increases the grip that the world
system has on your heart. If you are in a bind and looking for financial help,
let me encourage you to put your full faith in God and not in the schemes of
man. I know that it is difficult, but I also know that our God is a good father
who longs to give us good gifts. Sometimes that provision will come through the
generosity of other people, other times it will come through opportunities to
ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES and do a lot of hard-work. But however it comes, it comes
from the father which means it is the perfect solution to your dilemma.
Here are the practical
steps for getting out of debt:
In this, we are going to get very practical in ditching debt. I urge
you to imbibe in your heart the mindset to ruthlessly avoid debt. Because debt
and borrowing is a drag. It creates stress, it keeps us from achieving our
financial goals and messes with our happiness. If you are ready to get on a
path to financial freedom, it’s important to have a plan for how you are going
to tackle that debt.
MAKE A COMMITMENT: No matter how much debt you have, it’s possible to get out of debt
and to stay out. You will need to be more committed. Even if you have no idea
how you will ever get out of debt, even if its seems impossible, make a
commitment that from this day onwards you will do what it takes to get out and
stay out of debt. If really you want to get out of debt fast, you have to stop
using debt to fund your lifestyle. Stop buying what you don't have the cash to
pay for. This will help you focus solely on the debt that you currently do have
so that you can develop a plan to pay it off quickly.
FACE THE TRUTH: This will serve you well to know the truth about your debts. Make a
list of all your debts; who do you owe? How much are you owing? How much will
you be paying – per week, monthly as the case may be? It may sound simple - but
finding out how much you owe is incredibly hard for many to do. This boils down
to the fact that people feel guilty about their debt. They'd rather bury their
heads in the sand than look at the reality of the situation and do something
about it. I challenge you now to step up and own your debt. You can do the hard-work
now, or the impossible work later.
ACT NOW: Before you go forward, you need to stop going backwards. Let the
thought of borrowing be erased from your mind. Let the taste for borrowing
become bitter in your mouth. When the voice comes and says "why not borrow to meet this need?", rebuke that voice
immediately! Tell yourself you must not borrow to meet needs in life and act upon
it. Just do whatever it takes to make it as difficult as possible to go any
further into debt. Once you know how much you owe, you are ready to
strategically attack your debt. To do this, you need to prioritize which of
your debts you are going to repay off first. Pay by starting from the highest
to the least.
CREATE A REALISTIC BUDGET
AND STICK TO IT:
Developing a budget that tracks
your income and your expenses is crucial to getting out of debt in a short
period of time. It will help you gauge where you are in your finances so that
you can move forward towards your goal. Creating a budget will expose whether
you have money left over which is called surplus or if you are in the
negative, which is deficit. The goal is to increase your surplus and use that
money to pay down your debt.
The second thing you can do is to trim your expenses. Go
over each item on your budget and ask yourself "how can I make this number
smaller?" It may involve cancelling some things you can do
without. The amount you splash depends on your commitment level to getting out
of debt. The more committed you are, the easier it will be for you to give up
some of the unnecessary amenities in life.
WHEN YOU ARE FREE FROM
DEBT, THESE ARE THE THINGS YOU MUST NOT DO
DON'T IGNORE YOUR ACCOUNT - Always be aware of where your money goes. Attach high value to a
kobo, because you know how you worked to get that kobo. Be watchful over your
money and monitor your account, so that you will know where you are. Tracking
your spending - every kobo that comes in and goes out - is one of the ways to
maintain control of your money and reduce how much you are wasting each month.
DON'T NEGLECT SAVINGS - People who are in debt generally carry a mentality of scarcity-
the feeling or mindset of never having enough. And very often this actually
causes people to avoid saving and continue spending. You might have heard this
saying from people who are successful in finances, "pay yourself first"
make this a priority, (not neglecting tithing - we will treat this subsequently).
DON'T WASTE MONEY - Don't waste money on unnecessary items. Make sure you avoid
making unwise purchases (spending way more than you have to on
something or consumer item that will lose it value). One free from debt
is definitely not going to spend #20,000 on a pair of shoes... sure they might
spend once in a while, but it won't be a big spend that will derail their
overall financial plan.
DON'T BE ADDICTED TO
SHOPPING - Having focus on acquiring things can put
you in a financial rut very quickly. Don't let possession define you. Instead
value relationships and experiences over things. Don't let money rule/control
you, but rule your money and tell it where you want it to go.
DON'T SUCCUMB TO LACK OF
KNOWLEDGE - Being debt-free doesn't happen by luck
or magic; it happens because something has been realized about money and there
is this commitment to get better. Take responsibility of your finances, and
part of this has to do with UNDERSTANDING
HOW MONEY WORKS. {This will be treated subsequently too - anticipate}.
If you are truly committed to reaching financial freedom, you have
to invest the energy required to make it happen.
Till next week Friday - God bless you.
Don't forget to drop your feedback in the comment section, we'd so love to know how you've been impacted!
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