To Debt or Not To Debt Pt. 2
We started out by telling you of the unfortunate events that lead us to a boat-load of debt and sadly, a strained family relationship. We had been wanting to get freedom from debt for a while, but it wasn’t until the heat was turned up that we had enough motivation to do something radical about it! (Really? We knew the right thing to do, but didn’t do it!) Have you ever been there?
I have your cup of coffee freshly brewed and ready to go! Thanks for joining us today!
So… back to our story:
We went to God and asked Him to show us what to do. Seriously, it was a Mayday call and we understood that somewhere along the way, we (not something) had gone terribly wrong. We were a living proof that Proverbs 14:12 is true:
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
If you look at all these maps, it’s overwhelming to try find your way. If you ask God, He’ll zero in on a specific quadrant and take you from there!
That’s why it’s so important to get God’s perspective on things! And we remembered that if God could trust us over the little things (AKA money) then He would entrust us with more important things (AKA power to help others). This is a whole other post for another time…
Guys, we had an uphill climb.
We had some major lessons to learn in the following areas:
Contentment
Materialism
The blessing of God
Faithful stewardship
Remember I told you God has always sent us people and resources to answer our request for wisdom?
Enter Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University.
It was the intensive course we needed to teach us the practical side of being faithful stewards of God’s blessing.
Let me just hit pause for a second. I want to tell you one of my struggles with Dave. You may relate?
I wanted to make his stuff Law. I loved the formula and was gonna work it! Because I’m naturally a task oriented person, I found myself wanting to trust the system sometimes more than my Lord. I thank God for Brad who could see the big picture and help me stay focused on the right thing.
The right focus: Principles, not formula.
That right thing was… that God has already pronounced His blessing upon our life. I thought I’d be blessed financially if I did all Dave said.
The paradigm shift came when I realized God already declared that I. Am. Blessed.
His blessing upon me doesn’t depend on whether or not I budget. Now if I budget, I’m engaging with His design of faithful stewardship, and that blessing materializes incrementally!
Just like the epic human saga of law versus grace: I’m not “doing to get”. I’m doing because I am.
I needed overarching principles broken down into bite-size pieces and the mechanics explained to me, and that’s where Dave pointed me in the right direction.
There were others, too! Crown financial helped us in our first years of marriage. There were wealthy people who answered our questions. There were others that we knew had a good handle on putting money in it’s proper place, and they were also very helpful. Dave just came to us at the right time. We were finally asking the right questions, and his tough love was the speech we needed right then.