Finance

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!