Debt Free At Last - How?

Debt Free At Last – How?

There are two kinds of debt that man has to face.

Debt of money
Debt of sin.

Man has to be set free in both as they can cause dangerous effects to his entire life and most importantly his eternal life. The good news, however, is that the Bible has numerous practical guide lines on how we could break out of these life damaging debt traps and if we pay attention and take heed to what God says, it will bring freedom to our lives.

1Tim 6:6-10 - 6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Financial debt has ruined many lives. One major reasons of divorce is financial problems in marriage due to financial debt. Financial stress is common in many homes because we tend to live beyond our means and the effect is unmanageable debt caused by uncontrolled use of credit cards. Satan’s schemes and his devices to entice us to crave for material things tend to have the upper hand to place us in financial bondage-living in the buy now pay later scheme of things. Borrowers are slaves to lenders (Proverbs 22:7b (NIRV). One financial formula said: IGNORANCE + EASY CREDIT = FINANCIAL DISASTER. That’s the problem many of us face.

If you begin to depend on credit to maintain your lifestyle then you are spending too much. If your credit balance is increasing every month then you are getting in a debt trap. Why, because most likely you are living a lifestyle that you can not maintain just on your salary. Living on credit is a big problem to God. It shows your lack of contentment. You should be satisfied with the salary you are receiving. Be content with your pay." (Luke 3:14b).

Now let’s pay attention to the Scriptures. The Scriptures have a solution. The Bible gives us simple and very practical advice about how to get out of the debt trap that’s worth heeding. These steps will help us begin feeling real financial freedom in our life. Financial disasters can be avoided if we take heed to God’s Word.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty.” (Malachi 3:10-11 NIV).

You see, God will pour out blessings to us that are more than sufficient for all our needs, He will prevent financial disaster to happen and He will multiply the measure of the blessings that will come back to us with the measure we used in giving by using God’s Giving Principle: The more you give, the more you receive (Ref. Luke 6:38). If meager blessings will come back to us, the reason is obvious. That’s because there is nothing God can multiply as nothing was given or not the right measure that God required has been given or offered to Him.

The purpose of tithing is to teach us always to put God first in our lives - “so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always” (Deut. 14:23b).

What is God’s way to free us out of the debt trap? Precisely, by doing the things that pleases Him.

1. Start Paying God First (Proverbs 3:9).
Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.

The Scriptures gave specific command that we should honor the LORD by giving him the first part of all our income and our barns will be filled to overflowing. That means our financial coffer will not get empty nor run dry. The problem is your inability to tithe (giving the first 10% to God) because your whole salary for the month is barely enough to pay your monthly bills. If you’re unable to tithe or even worse, refuse to tithe then you’re essentially robbing God of His money. Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you? In tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8).

We should not forget that we are only managers of God’s money not the owners, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18b). Therefore, we should be good stewards of the money He entrusted to us. Giving to God the first 10% of our income is the first step to experience real financial freedom.

2. Start Saving For Yourself (Proverbs 21:20 (LB)
The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.

After you have given to the storehouse of God you also have to make your own storehouse. You have to reward yourself of your hard work say another 10% of your income saved for the future. Why do you keep a spare tire in your car? Naturally, to have it handy within arms reach for use immediately in case you get a flat tire on the road. Similarly, our savings serves as our financial spare tire in case we face financial emergencies in the future. Most importantly, for the family to live on in case the bread winner dies soon. Discipline yourself to save money for you and your family’s future. Then adjust your life style to live on the rest of the 80 % covering all bills and miscellaneous expenses.

3. Arrange a Debt Repayment Plan (Romans 13:8a, Psalm 37:21).
Romans 13:8a (NIV): Let no debt remain outstanding.
Psalm 37:21 (NIV): The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;

You’ll never get out of debt accidentally – it has to be intentional, so, initiate to make a repayment plan. You may need a financial counselor or a good friend who has expertise in finances to help you set up a plan to get out of debt. Too often our emotions get in the way when we make big financial decisions that we may regret later, thus, to avoid it to happen, an expert financial advice will help. In fact, debt is like a financial cancer, eating away at your family’s finances. The Bible says it’s a wicked thing to not repay your debt but the righteous stands on his promises and responsibilities. Commit yourself to becoming debt free at last.

Now, there is a debt that is of greater importance for us to be set free. It’s a debt that affects our entire eternal destiny. You see, there is another crucial place where we are caught in the “debt trap.” It’s the debt of sin – our sins of commission and omission. And nothing can balance out the account no matter how much good things we have done. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That is the horror of sin. So what do you do about it? Do you just live with this debt? Do you hide from this debt?

God has a different answer! His answer is: He gave His love thru His Son to pay all our debts. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 NIV).

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23 NIV). God did not send his Son Jesus Christ into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Therefore, whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God (John 3:19-21).

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)! When you were dead in your sins and in the un-circumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14 NIV).

Financial freedom is wonderful, but freedom from sin is eternal! It can be experienced only by surrendering your life totally to Jesus Christ. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me. (Revelations 3:20).






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