We continue to reflect on excerpts from my book FEAR-PROOF as we study the Mental component of our Wheel of Life. As our thoughts go, so goes our life…
“Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them, but none are fun when you set about retiring them.” ~Ogden Nash
Yesterday’s devotion was about materialism and because of materialism we often take on the burden of debt.
As noted in yesterday’s reading, the devil tries his best to convince us that the only way to curb the fear felt by a void we have in our soul is by filling it with material things from the world.
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.
As of April, 2014, the average credit card holder in the U.S. carried an average balance of $15,191.00 of credit card debt (…things bought today, trashed tomorrow and paid double for 15 years later). The average credit card debt has doubled since 2010!
I sound like an expert on debt. Well, that is probably because I am.
When I crashed and burned at the age of 28 my wife (not her fault) and I were carrying significant debt and actually lived off of credit cards for the first couple of years of my sobriety while we got our feet back under us.
A key 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 a percentage of our earnings back to our church and others in need. To the average person this probably seems crazy, but in God’s world you can’t keep what you have unless you give it away.
After faithfully helping others financially while reducing our debt over a twenty year period, we finally became debt free. What an amazing feeling and I’m sure being debt free ticked the devil off.
Are you struggling with debt? If so, it will take new thinking and behavior on your part to get out of it…I write from experience.
Pray-Picture-Plan and Practice a debt free life…it is worth every penny of effort.
Additional Scripture to read and reflect upon:Â Proverbs 22:7, Romans 13:8, 1 Timothy 6:10
What beliefs, thoughts and actions cause you to struggle with debt?
