Friday: Further Thought ~ Dealing with Debt
Further Thought:
The three-step process of debt elimination is actually found on one page of Ellen G. White’s writings. Emphasis has been added to highlight the points.
“Be determined never to incur another debt. Deny yourself a thousand things rather than run in debt.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
This has been the curse of your life, getting into debt. Avoid it as you would the smallpox.
Make a solemn covenant with God that by His blessing you will pay your debts and then owe no man anything if you live on porridge and bread. … Do not falter, be discouraged, or turn back. Deny your taste, deny the indulgence of appetite, save your pence and pay your debts.
Work them off as fast as possible. When you can stand forth a free man again, owing no man anything, you will have achieved a great victory.” — Counsels on Stewardship, p. 257.
If you need additional help to become debt-free, try these points:
Establish a budget. Make a simple budget by keeping a record of all your income and expenses/purchases over a period of three months. Many are surprised to learn how much money they spend on unnecessary items.
Destroy credit cards. Credit cards are one of the major causes of family indebtedness. They are so easy to use and so hard to pay off. If you find that you aren’t paying off the cards in total each month, or that you are using them to purchase items that you would not otherwise have bought, you should destroy your credit cards before they destroy you or your marriage or both.
Begin economic measures. Sometimes we aren’t aware of how much we could save on our monthly expenses just by being careful about some of the small things that we purchase. They quickly add up.
Discussion Questions:
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I am really glad that this lesson has concentrated on the practical issues of Christian living in the modern world. While I have mentioned some of the issues that are relevant to me in our Australian context, I hope that in your own lesson discussions, you are open to applying the principles of Christian financial management in your environment. Each one of us is different too, and what is good management for me may not make sense to others.
Christianity has always been about practical living, not just theological theory and devotional reading. Looking after our finances should be a very practical application of Christian principles.
For me the big financial issue is retirement. After a lifetime of a fairly steady income, I face 20-30 years where I am not generating income through work. Of course, when I was young I was sure the Lord would come long before I retired. Thankfully, even though I wished I had planned better in my youth, I think I might be able to survive most of my old age without being a burden to others. Managing our finances is not something I enjoy but I do it out of necessity.
1. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” - 1 Corinthians 10:13
2. “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” - Hebrews 13:5
3. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” - Matthew 6:19-21
4. “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” - Matthew 6:31-32
5. “Do not amass wealth for yourself, to become a thief’s snare, for your heart will be led astray by it.” - Proverbs 23:4
6. “Gain is not the same as abundance, and much does not make one a rich man.” - Proverbs 15:27
In reading that last question regarding Bible verses with promises to protect us from debt, my mind was drawn to Adam & Eve. Now I’m not saying that anyone and everyone in debt is a deep sinner; I just had the thought that Eve wanted something that they were warned against. They had the entire garden of food to eat, but that fascination with that one tree they shouldn’t have, got the best of her. If she had been content with what they already had, we wouldn’t even have had to have this quarter's lessons. I know their desire was not financial gain, but when I desire something I don’t have and can’t afford, contentment with what God has already blessed me with, however meager that might be, will save me from trouble for sure. Anyway, that’s where my brain went with that question.
I wonder if managing one’s finances well is an indicator of making sure that the rest of one's life is adequately ordered and balanced as well. Relationships with family members, people at work, with friends and neighbors – all benefit from a well balanced exchange of giving and receiving. I am sure that different personalities respond differently to life’s challenges, but all benefit from a well balanced life.
Since our heavenly Father talks with each one of His faith children individually, the process of sanctification progresses on the individual’s willingness to accept needed change. What I see to be applicable to all indebtedness, though, is that it takes away the ability to live freely and unencumbered, possibly even leading to the loss of material goods or one’s freedom.
Going back to Phil’s statement of ‘living to give/giving to live’, all matters of life benefit from the balance between receiving and spending (giving). I am not surprised that Ellen White touched on this by suggesting to “make a solemn covenant with God that by His blessing you will pay your debts and then owe no man anything ….”
Against all odds, and singularly attributable to the grace and mercy inherent in the glory of God, our family has been blessed with a slow and steady increase of material wealth with which we can manage all obligations successfully. This does not mean that we are ‘rich’ by the western world’s standard, but we have everything that we need to enjoy a balanced lifem and enough to share with others.
For me personally, true wealth is vested in the relationship I enjoy with my heavenly Father. His blessing of opening my eyes and ears to understand and follow what the Spirit teaches about God's way of truth and light for man is the ‘pearl of great price’ which no man can take away from me.
Many are burdened with debt. Christ said, and yes it's paraphrased, turn to Me you who are weary and burdened with debt and I will give you rest. He did not say He would wait till you get out of debt to give you rest; He meant He will give you rest now. Matthew 11:28. So why not trust in the Lord, put our strength in Him who is our shield from the burden of debt? Even though our burden is heavy now, He will give us joy through the process, because we have taken the 1st step, which is trusting in Him to get us through the quagmire of debt. Remember finding rest in Him now, even if it takes much time to dissolve your debt, by starting to spend less now, which I believe is for some of us one of the life changes Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Moses experienced. Do not wait; find rest now, and trust in Him.
Psalms 28:7.
For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor; now is the (beginning) day of salvation (from debt).
2 Corinthians 6:2 NIV
Happy Sabbath
The lesson has not mentioned this at all, but we also owe God a debt of caring for our health. When we do not follow God's guidance on health, we pay the price in poor health and high medical bills. One of my personal struggles has been awareness of how the things I eat and drink affect my health, especially once I realized I have food allergies. Many of the foods that are so readily available as convenience foods are very unhealthy. When I am a good steward of my time, I have time to prepare healthy food at home to bring to work, instead of buying convenience foods. When I eat better, I even feel able to think more clearly, and I have more energy. NEWSTART is an excellent path to health. A healthy person is best able to serve God as He intends.
Just finished _The Prophet and the Presidents_. By 1901 the SDA Church was deeply in debt. Sr White insisted that we build sanitariums in a number of locations. And schools. Sr White was in debt trying to help support these and pay her staff. She had planned on royalties from sales of Great Controversy. R&H and other publishers were also struggling financially. R&H promoted Bible Readings for the Home instead as colporteurs could sell that more easily. Some of the new institutions had to close. AG Daniels then insisted that we must have cash in hand before building. Lesson learned?