Again, wisdom is to do now what will bring satisfaction and contentment later, while impulse is to do now what will later bring regret and even despair. Instant gratification—getting something we really want immediately—feels good, but later on, when we are paying and paying, we usually are not satisfied.
Dave was wise enough to refuse to live like that, so we cut up the card and kept making payments until we paid off the balance. We did without credit cards for years because we had proven we were not able to handle them. We did eventually get them again, but only after we had developed enough self-control to use them only for convenience in paying for things while in the store. Then we went right home and deducted the money from our checking account.
One of our managers has shared openly that he and his wife did the same thing as Dave and I, and millions of others, had done. When they decided to get out of debt, they paid for eight years on credit cards, while not using them, in order to pay them totally off.
When people are making payments on houses, one or two cars, school loans, furniture, perhaps other loans, and two or three credit cards, how could they possibly be anything other than stressed to the maximum degree? Very few individuals make enough to handle that kind of payment pressure.
No matter how much money someone makes, that is not the proper way to manage it. We have known of people who became bitter at their employers, thinking they were not paid enough to do their jobs, when in reality they were simply living beyond their means. Don’t blame the results of a bad decision on someone else—only the truth will make you free.
Be very careful about making any kind of purchase on time payments, and when you do, be sure you look seriously at how long you will be making the payment and how much interest you will pay over the months or years involved. Ask yourself if you believe it will be worth it to you later on, as well as right now. Remember that emotions subside. We can all do things in excitement and be very sorry later on in life.
Through the convenience of the financial aids on the Internet, you can find a site that will give you an amortization schedule that will calculate how long it will take you to pay off a current debt. For example, if you have $20,000 of credit-card debt, which you are paying at $300 per month with an interest rate of 12.99 percent, it will take you 10 years to pay it off! And you will pay over $15,000 in interest charges! If you pay $500 per month, it will take you nearly 5 years to pay off the loan, but you will still pay over $6,000 in interest.
Obviously, the gratification that you may feel when purchasing items on credit will not be so tempting if you calculate the amount of interest and the amount of time it will take you to pay off your debt.
F
ILING
B
ANKRUPTCY
If debt has overwhelmed you, you may have filed bankruptcy—or perhaps you are thinking about making that decision now. I don’t mean any of what I am about to say to condemn anyone, but I do wish to make it plain how filing bankruptcy affects your credit rating later in life and sometimes follows you all of your life.
First, let me say there may be legitimate reasons to file bankruptcy. When I was eighteen years old, I was married to a man who would not work, committed adultery, stole things, wrote bad checks, and eventually ended up in prison. When we were divorced, I suddenly found that I was responsible legally to pay all of his debts. At that time I felt I had no choice, it seemed impossible and unfair for me to pay for his debt, so I decided to file bankruptcy. Had I known God as I do now and been aware of His Word and delivering power, I might have made a different choice.
It took a few years to overcome my bad credit rating. Bankruptcy should never be our first choice; we should do everything we possibly can to pay our debts. First Timothy 3 teaches us that Christians should have a good reputation with the world so no one has a reason to judge them. Not paying our bills does not help our reputation.
Today, filing bankruptcy is far too easy and becomes an answer for far too many people. It certainly should not be the solution for poor financial management. When people live excessively, they will eventually need to suffer to bring things back into balance. Bankruptcy may relieve current pressure, but it creates another type of pressure for years to come.
We find many people in financial trouble today; actually, the number is quite astounding. It is usually a result of poor management and choices. Some people have since learned wisdom and are making better choices, but they still find they are paying the price for past mistakes. God forgives us, but creditors are not quite as forgiving as God is. They want their money!
Even though God is forgiving, He expects us to pay for what we have taken from others. The Word says, “The wicked borrow and pay not again [for they may be unable], but the [uncompromisingly] righteous deal kindly and give [for they are able]. For such as are blessed of God shall [in the end] inherit the earth” (Psalm 37:21–22).
I believe God wants people to pay their debts, and He helps people, quite often through miracles, when they begin doing what is right. It is encouraging to hear of testimonies about how God has miraculously gotten someone completely out of debt. It is good to believe for a miracle, but at the same time, we need to do what we can.
As a matter of fact, I believe people don’t receive miracles if they have not been sowing seeds of obedience to God. I tell people all the time, “If you do what you can do, God will do what you cannot do.” Don’t be the type of person who believes God for a miracle in his finances but who is not willing to do what he can do to help the process.
If you have poor credit and a lot of debt, you might have to work extra hard for a few years and show diligence in paying off your bills. Most companies will work with people having financial difficulty if the people are willing to do something. Even if you can pay only ten dollars per month on a loan balance, do what you can. Remember that God blesses diligence, but He does not bless laziness and excuses.
Don’t take the easy way out (bankruptcy) just because you might be able to legally. Do all you possibly can in order not to have a bad financial reputation.
If you have already ruined your credit rating, I do believe you can overcome it, but you will need to be patient and persistent. If you are making financial decisions right now and still can avoid making bad choices, I pray this book will help you really think about what you are doing and the long-term effects of your choices.
Remember, what we sow today, we reap tomorrow, and tomorrow always comes. Too often people want instant gratification, and they don’t think about tomorrow, but I repeat:
Tomorrow always comes.
R
ESOURCES FOR
F
INANCIAL
P
ROSPERITY
God gives resources to all of us. He is not a respecter of persons; He does not play favorites. God gives all of us time, energy, gifts, talents, and finances. If we make right choices with what we have, it will always multiply. If we make wrong choices, we deplete our resources and end up with nothing.
Let’s take energy as an example. Most young people feel good, they have lots of energy and can go and go like the Energizer bunny. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, often they don’t take care of themselves; they actually abuse their bodies and later on in life find themselves sick and facing serious health issues.
Time is another good example. We all have the exact same amount, yet some people accomplish a lot while others do nothing. Some people constantly say they have no time, yet they have as much as anyone else. Very often in my life, I have used my day to work on a book or teaching for an upcoming conference, while other people I knew played all day. A concert pianist spent a lot of time practicing while other children were playing. A person who wins a gold medal at the Olympics in figure skating practiced while others played.
Those who accomplished their objectives made a choice that brought an unusual reward. They were not just “lucky” or blessed more than others; they worked hard, and they used their time to accomplish their goals in life.
I am certainly not saying that we don’t need to play at times, and I realize there have been times in my life when I was a workaholic, but God did say to work six days and rest one. Our world is way out of balance when people want to play more than work, and they too often seek entertainment.
People often ask me how I accomplish what I do, and the answer is
I work.
I don’t feel that I am out of balance; I make sure I have fun and get rest, but I am also a hard worker. I am using my time to leave a legacy for the world in books, tapes, television, and radio programs. I want my being here to matter. I don’t want just to pass through the world and take up space for eighty or ninety years, then die and have nobody remember I was here. I want people to be reading my books several hundred years from now, unless Jesus returns.
Time is a resource, and most people waste a lot of theirs. I heard myself say one day that I felt I “spent” a lot of my time getting dressed, putting on makeup, fixing my hair, getting my nails done, and so forth. God spoke to my heart and said, “That is right, you ‘spend’ time, so make sure it is worth it.”
Any area of our lives can get out of balance. I strongly believe we should look as nice as possible, and to do so we must spend some time on personal grooming. Some people don’t put in any time on their appearances, and others spend too much. All we really need in any area is balance.
Another resource is gifts and talents. Everyone can do things; they have abilities and should be using them. If we don’t use something, we often lose it; or if it lies dormant, it doesn’t do us or anyone else any good.
What am I doing with what God has given me? This should be one of the questions we regularly ask ourselves. If we are not satisfied with the answer, we need to make changes.
There are many things I cannot do; for example, I cannot sing well enough to do anything other than make a joyful noise, but I can talk. I have a gift of communication, and God is using it since I offered all my abilities and myself to Him. Everyone should stop moaning about what he or she cannot do, and start doing what he or she can do. If you use your resources, God will be pleased, and He will multiply what you have.
Matthew 25:15–29 teaches us about resources a master gave his servants. The Bible refers to these resources as “talents.” In this passage of Scripture, the talents were money that the servants were to use properly until the master’s return, at which time he would require an accounting. As you read the story, you will find that one took what he had been given and increased it five times. Another servant took his and increased it two times. Another did nothing with his, except hide it in fear that the master would be upset if he lost it.
When the master returned, he was very pleased with the two who had multiplied what he had given them, but he rebuked the one who did nothing. The master called him “wicked and lazy and idle” (v. 26) and took from him what he had and gave it to the one who had multiplied most.
This is God’s way. He gives to all people what they can handle and waits to see what they do with it. Those who do nothing always become losers in life, and those who work hard, investing their resources and multiplying, always become winners. The master told the two who invested and had a good return he would put them in charge of more and allow them to share in their master’s joy.
I believe people are happier and experience more joy and peace in life when they are using their resources. We all have a built-in knowledge that it is right to make progress and wrong to sit idle and watch life pass us by.
Usually people who do nothing are jealous of those who prosper. Don’t be jealous of what someone has if you are not willing to do what he or she did to get it.
God expects us to manage what He gives us and to use it wisely so it will increase. We are not blessed in any way when we waste our resources, and we always pay the price for waste. One of our resources is the ability to work. In fact, the Bible instructs us to work!
For while we were yet with you, we gave you this rule and charge: If anyone will not work, neither let him eat. Indeed, we hear that some among you are disorderly [that they are passing their lives in idleness, neglectful of duty], being busy with other people’s affairs instead of their own and doing no work. Now we charge and exhort such persons [as ministers in Him exhorting those] in the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) that they work in quietness and earn their own food and other necessities. (2 Thessalonians 3:10–12)
This, of course, does not apply to those who are too old or ill to work. God provides for them in other ways, but those of us who can work, He expects to do so. God worked and then rested from His labors, and we should follow His example. Deuteronomy 28:11–12 declares that God will bless the work of our hands; He doesn’t bless our laziness.
D
ISCIPLINE AND
S
ELF
-C
ONTROL
Relieving financial pressure will require discipline and self-control. The Bible teaches in many places the importance of discipline. If we don’t discipline ourselves, our circumstances will eventually do it for us. God’s Word tells us to be temperate, which means to be marked by moderation, to hold ourselves within limits (to compromise between two extremes or find the middle ground).
Clearly, we are to maintain balance. It is wrong to overspend, but it is also wrong to underspend. You may be at a point where you need to stop spending for a while, or perhaps you need to take some of your money and go do something with it. God gives us money not to hoard, but to enjoy. Wisdom saves some, spends some, and gives some.
My husband is a very good financial manager, and that is his motto: “Save some, spend some, and give some within your borders, and you will always be blessed!”
Don’t let emotions rule you—discipline them. Don’t let them take charge or lead your decisions. As I stated previously, emotions rise, but they also subside. Emotions can rally you to begin a thing, but they won’t be there for the finish. You may experience excitement about making a purchase but feel depression when it is time to make the payment. Emotions are fickle—they change regularly. To depend on them is a foolish choice.