“Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them, but none are fun when you set about retiring them.” ~Ogden Nash
In the previous blog I wrote about materialism and because of materialism we take on the burden of debt.
The devil tries his best to convince us the best way to curb the fear felt by a “void” we have in our soul is by filling it with “things.”
The devil is cunning, baffling and powerful, he knows if we continue to need “things” to fill our void we will eventually become over-extended and be up to our ears in debt.
The feeling of being up to our ears in debt triggers more fear and we medicate this fear by buying more things. Hmm, this sounds like a bad habit turning into an addiction.
The average credit card holder in the U.S. carries an average balance of $15,956.00 of credit card debt (…things bought today, trashed tomorrow and paid double for 15 years later.)
I sound like an expert. Well that is probably because I am.
When I crashed and burned at the age of 28 I was carrying a tremendous amount of debt and actually lived off of credit cards for the first year of my sobriety because I could not work.
Part of my recovery included getting out of debt because the fears associated with debt were dangerous to my sobriety.
Once I became employed, my wife and I decided our first step in getting out of debt was to begin giving 10% of our earnings back to our church and others…I know this doesn’t make sense, but I’ve found God doesn’t always make sense…if you want to grow your faith try doing all the “non-sensical” things God tells you to do. If you want to grow your wealth it starts by being willing to give it away.
From personal experience, I can tell you the feeling I had when my wife and I said good-bye to debt forever was better than any drug I ever put in my body. The bondage to debt is a horrible feeling and the devil wants us to feel horrible. Tick off the devil and stop the debt cycle TODAY!
Pray for God’s strength to help you break the dangerous cycle of buying things you do not need with money you do not have.
Picture paying off all your credit cards, your car and your house.
Make a Plan to develop this picture and make sure the Plan has a goal date.
Begin Practicing living below your means and giving your first fruits back to God and/or his kingdom one day at a time.
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
Luke 14:28, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it.”
Proverbs 22:7, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”
