Pay all your debts except the debt of love for others—never finish paying that! Romans 13:8 Living Bible
Few of us lay awake nights worrying about a major world economic collapse any more than we lay awake worrying about our planet’s getting wiped out by an asteroid from outer space.
But thinking about our own families and what may happen if dad doesn’t get a good -paying job is quite another matter. Now, when your family is smothered with bills you can’t pay, the entire issue of debt and financial survival becomes intensely personal. Who cares about the conditions of world banking if your local bank stamps your checks “I.F.”: insufficient funds?
Now, bringing this whole issue into focus, is there anything you can do personally to make your financial position stronger in the future? There is.
So, Guideline #1: Find out how much you owe and what you are paying in interest on your outstanding obligations. Don’t be like the friend who didn’t even bother to open his bills when they came. Unopened he would toss them into the trash. “Why bother to open them,” he sighed. “I don’t have any money to pay them, and they just make me feel bad.”
Guideline #2: Get help now. For years I have encouraged churches to set up a stewardship department who can give of their time in helping young families especially young couples to get a handle on their finances. To me this is the application of faith with works, as James described it. If we who are of the household of faith cannot apply biblical principles to our financial needs today, who will?
Guideline #3: Budget your income. Have a budget and refuse to spend what you don’t have. Don’t be like the fellow who said, “I’ve got a budget and I’m going to live within that budget even if I have to borrow money to do so!”
Guideline #4: Get out of debt. In simple terms, debt is your inability to pay what you owe when it is due. The primary exception to this is your home, which in all probability will increase in value over an extended period of time. Easy credit has been the nemesis of our day: buy now, pay later. But if you think about the cost involved in paying later, even the purchase of a home may put you in the debtors column. So, before you buy anything better find out what the conditions are. Remember, “the large print gives and the fine print takes away.” Read that document carefully before you purchase, and if you don’t understand what you are signing, better find someone who can explain it to you, someone you trust.
Guideline #5: Start paying cash for what you buy. Larry Burkett offers a recipe for getting out of credit card debt. He said, “preheat your oven to 425 degrees, grease a cookie pan, toss your credit cards on it, and bake ten minutes, or until done.” Another friend suggests that if you must use credit cards, freeze them in blocks of ice, and when you want to use them, think about the purchase while the ice is melting.
Guideline #6: Work together as a couple and family. When you married, you made a commitment to each other, and money is part of that commitment. Almost always when a marriage is in trouble, money has been a weapon used to hurt the other person.
Guideline #7: Finally, acknowledge that what you have belongs to the Lord. Include God in your budget and giving. Failure here probably began your downhill slide to trouble. Go deeper into investigating what God says and get out of debt once and for all.
Resource reading: Luke 21:1-4
