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Words Of Life Ministries, Inc. 24148 Iowa Rd PO Box 652 Lebanon, MO 65536 Located in downtown Sleeper, MO 417-532-8050 |
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BIBLE-BASED FINANCIAL GUIDANCE, Part 8
by Jerry Dewey
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 9
So, why are so many churchgoers NOT tithing, NOT giving, and NOT saving? Even though reasons were given why they weren’t in the discussion of these topics, there is one underlying reason why many churchgoers are not tithing, are not giving, and are not saving. That root cause is DEBT! It was recently announced that the total debt for Americans is 3.1 TRILLION dollars ($3,100,000,000); the average American carries over $17,000 worth of unsecured debt every month (this does not include the mortgage on your home [homes are considered an appreciating asset; typically, the value of your home will increase every few years. So, as long as you kept your house and the property it’s on in good shape, you could probably sell it for more than what you owed – if you had to sell it] and your car loan/loans, as long as the car is worth more than what you still owe [cars tend to lose value very rapidly, some faster than others – a new car can lose as much as $5,000 in value as soon as you drive it off the lot; so, if you had made a very large down payment, say $5,000 to $10,000, your car may be worth more than what you owe]). Many churchgoers who are in debt are using the resources God expects them to pay their tithes with, to give, and to save to pay the minimum payments on their debt; most of them are compounding the situation by adding more to it every month. If this describes you, you are consuming your seed; therefore, God has nothing to work with. If you follow God’s financial plan (all the principles it is based on), you will be the master of “your” money (and your financial situation) versus being mastered by “your” money. God’s plan for your finances is stated in Deuteronomy 28:12-13, “The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath.” Compare this to Deuteronomy 28:43-44, which says “the stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.” God’s financial plan does not include you being in debt; if you are in debt, you haven’t been applying all the principles in God’s plan – you may be doing some of them, but you are not doing all of them. Being in debt makes you a servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7, “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”), which means the bank or the credit card company is your master. As long as you are in debt, you and your finances are in bondage to the creditors you’ve borrowed from and you’ve given them the power to determine how you allocate the financial resources God places in your hand. John 13:16 (Amplified) says, “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, A servant is not greater than his master… (the NLT says, “I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master…” while the KJV says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord…”).” Simply put, they’re in charge and basically, you have no say so, because you are their slave. Debt prevents you from fulfilling or constricts your ability to fulfill God’s purpose for the resources He places in your hands. Your creditors expect you to pay back the money you owe them, so instead of paying your tithes, giving generously, and saving for your dreams and your future, you send that money to them. You fill their pockets and you fund their dreams and their future with the money God expected you to use to fulfill a divine purpose. Why? Because you know the creditors will start calling you or sending you letters advising you of the negative consequences and repercussions forthcoming if you do not satisfy your obligation; and since God doesn’t, you have decided they are more important than God. In Luke 16:13 (Amplified), Jesus makes the following statement, “No servant is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (riches, or anything in which you trust and on which you rely).” Instead of serving God, you have been serving your own self interests. Now, you are in debt because you have been worshipping at the feet of a false god (mammon, which is the spirit of money) trying to obtain the things that, from your perception, make you look wealthy or rich. The pursuit of possessions, wealth, and riches is considered an evil and corrupt influence. In 1 Timothy 6:9-10 (Amplified) it says, “But those who crave to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish (useless, godless) and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction and miserable perishing. For the love of money is a root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have been led astray and have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many acute [mental] pangs (the KJV says, “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” and the NLT says, “But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows”).” The acute mental pangs and the many sorrows is exactly what Deuteronomy 28:28-29 said would happen, “the lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.” Just so there isn’t any misunderstanding, there is NOTHING wrong with money or with you having lots and lots of money. Money or having money IS NOT the problem. You need money and God’s work needs money in order to function and operate. As long as your stewardship remains within the boundaries of God’s principles, you will do just fine with what you’ve got; don’t be surprised if God decides to send more and more your way, but be prepared to be tested. However, if your attitude about money and your motives behind the use of money do not line up with God’s principles, you are headed for disaster. Here are some interesting statistics regarding the cost of charging $5,000.00 to a credit card with a mandatory 2 percent minimum payment (on the unpaid balance) and you do not add any more charges to the initial charge: If, each month you pay the initial minimum payment of $100.00 until you pay off the balance: At 21 percent interest, it will take 9 years and 5 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $11,279.19 (the original $5,000.00 plus $6,279.19 in interest). At 18 percent interest, it will take 7 years and 6 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $8,997.71 (the original $5,000.00 plus $3,977.71 in interest). At 9 percent interest, it will take 5 years and 2 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $6,226.59 (the original $5,000.00 plus $1,226.59 in interest). If, each month you just pay the minimum payment (which starts at $100.00 and steadily goes down each month) until it reaches $50.00, then you pay $50.00 until you pay off the balance: At 21 percent interest, it will take 20 years and 2 months to reach $50.00; it will take a total of 29 years and 5 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $22,995.18 (the original $5,000.00 plus $17,995.18 in interest). At 18 percent interest, it will take 11 years and 1 month to reach $50.00; it will take a total of 18 years and 5 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $13,943.71 (the original $5,000.00 plus $8, 943.71 in interest). At 9 percent interest, it will take 4 years and 8 months to reach $50.00; it will take a total of 9 years and 9 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $7,061.29 (the original $5,000.00 plus $2,061.29 in interest). If, each month you just pay the minimum payment (which starts at $100.00 and steadily goes down each month) until it reaches $10.00, then you pay $10.00 until you pay off the balance: At 21 percent interest, it will take 66 years and 7 months to reach $10.00; it will take a total of 75 years and 11 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $32,368.03 (the original $5,000.00 plus $27,368.03 in interest). At 18 percent interest, it will take 36 years to reach $10.00; it will take a total of 43 years and 5 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $17,794.36 (the original $5,000.00 plus $12,794.36 in interest). At 9 percent interest, it will take 15 years and 2 months to reach $10.00; it will take a total of 20 years and 2 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $7,729.03 (the original $5,000.00 plus $2,729.03 in interest). If, each month you just pay the minimum payment (which starts at $100.00 and steadily goes down each month) until it reaches $5.00, then you pay $5.00 until you pay off the balance: At 21 percent interest, it will take 86 years and 7 months to reach $5.00; it will take a total of 95 years and 11 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $33,539.58 (the original $5,000.00 plus $28,539.58 in interest). At 18 percent interest, it will take 46 years and 10 months to reach $5.00; it will take a total of 54 years and 3 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $18,283.09 (the original $5,000.00 plus $13,283.09 in interest). At 9 percent interest, it will take 19 years and 8 months to reach $5.00; it will take a total of 24 years and 9 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $7,812.58 (the original $5,000.00 plus $2,812.58 in interest). If, each month you just pay the minimum payment (which starts at $100.00 and steadily goes down each month) until it reaches $1.00, then you pay $1.00 until you pay off the balance: At 21 percent interest, it will take 132 years and 11 months to reach $1.00; it will take a total of 142 years and 5 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $34,476.94 (the original $5,000.00 plus $29,476.94 in interest). At 18 percent interest, it will take 71 years and 10 months to reach $1.00; it will take a total of 79 years and 4 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $18,674.08 (the original $5,000.00 plus $13,674.08 in interest). At 9 percent interest, it will take 30 years and 2 months to reach $1.00; it will take a total of 35 years and 3 months to pay it off and you will have paid a total of $7,879.37 (the original $5,000.00 plus $2,879.37 in interest). In this example, depending on the pay off route you chose, it will cost you anywhere from 25 cents to $5.90 for every dollar you borrow in addition to paying back each dollar you borrow. This is for just one credit card; some of you are carrying balances on 2-3-4-5 credit cards, plus 1-2 car loans, and your mortgage. “Your” money is working against you instead of for you. Your creditors are the beneficiary of all your hard work and labor; it’s no wonder you feel trapped and you do not see a way out. Deuteronomy 28:33-34 explains this phenomenon perfectly, “The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation [your creditors] which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: so that thou shalt be made for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.” You need to get out of debt as soon as possible; the sooner the better. The worse thing you can do is to turn to the people who lent you the money in the first place – the banks and the credit card companies; all they are going to do is pull you further into their web of bondage. If you truly want to get out of debt, you are going to need God’s help. Here’s the dilemma (it’s actually a catch-22 situation): if you are not biblically tithing, God WILL NOT help you; if you are tithing (or you start tithing), but you are not giving, God may send some temporary relief to see what you do – do you sow a seed into His kingdom or do you revert back to your habit of consuming your seed on your greed. If you want the miraculous hand of God to move on your behalf, tithe and give your way out of debt; to see the supernatural miraculous hand of God moving on your behalf, tithe, give, and save your way out of debt. You are going to need a plan to get out of debt. Once you have a plan, you have to follow it until you are completely out of debt. Consistency is the key. If God does not miraculously intervene on your behalf, you are not going to get out of debt over night – it’s going to take time. An example plan could be: Stop using any and all types of credit to make purchases. All purchases you make must be paid for with cash, a money order, or, if you have the money in your checking account, with a check or debit card. If you don’t have the money to pay for it at the time, you probably don’t have a need (an overwhelming need) for it. So, plant a seed; for every need there is a seed (if there is no seed then there is no need). Have a plastic surgery party. Cut up all your credit cards (somebody is saying, “I need a credit card!” No you don’t. But, if you insist on keeping one, any charges you make to it must be completely paid when they show up on the statement). Call your credit card company, explain to them what you are planning to do, and see if they will lower your interest rate AND if they will allow you to transfer balances from your other credit cards without any charges or fees. Focus on one creditor at a time with the intention of getting off their books; start with your credit cards, because these usually have higher interest rates than do car loans and/or mortgages. There’s two ways to approach this: First, pick the credit card that has the highest balance, then double, triple, or quadruple the minimum payment each month until you have paid this balance off (continue paying the minimum payment on your other credit cards, your car loans, and your mortgage). After you have paid this balance off, add the money your were sending to this credit card company to the minimum payment of the credit card that now has the highest balance; do this until it is paid off. If you still have credit cards with balances, just repeat this process until you have paid off all the balances on your credit cards. The second approach is similar, but instead of starting with the credit card with the highest balance, you start with the credit card with the highest interest rate. After you have paid off all your credit cards, add all the money you were using to pay them off to your car loan payment; if you have more than one car loan, either start with the one that has the highest balance or the one that has the highest interest rate. Before sending any extra money, you should ask your loan company how they want you to identify the extra money you send as “PRINCIPLE ONLY.” Believe it or not, unless you specify that the extra money is for principle only, most loan companies will treat it like another loan payment; therefore, some of the money will go towards the principle and the rest of it will go towards interest. After you have paid off your car loans, you might consider adding some or all of this money to your mortgage payment; for example, add half, while saving the other half. Sometimes it makes more sense to save it all, especially if you plan on moving in the next two to seven to 10 years; that money, along with the equity (the difference between the selling price and the principle you still owe) that you may have by then, could be used as a down payment on your next home. As with paying extra on your car loan, you need to specify that the extra money you are sending to your mortgage company is for “PRINCIPLE ONLY.” If you examine your payment coupon, you may notice there is a place where you can specify that the extra money you are sending is for principle only. If not, then ask your mortgage company how they want you to identify the extra money as principle only, before you send them any extra money. NOTE: Car loans and mortgages are amortized – that’s why your payment is the same every month (excluding the portion of your mortgage payment that goes into your escrow account). Your loan payment consists of an interest payment and a principle payment. Each month, the amount that goes into these changes; in the beginning, the greatest percentage of your loan payment goes towards interest; as time passes, less and less of your payment goes towards interest, while more and more of it goes towards paying off the principle. These amounts (the interest payment and the principle payment) are recalculated each month based upon the unpaid principle balance of your loan. When you specify that any extra money you send goes to “principle only,” you are prematurely reducing the amount of interest that will be due with your next payment (since lending agencies are not obligated to apply all unspecified extra money towards the principle, chances are, they will extrapolate and take what they figure is owed them). For those of you who are saying (screaming) that there is no way you could implement such a plan, based upon the amount of money you currently make and your current obligations, BE CREATIVE. Get a part-time job, start a lawn care business or handyman service, pick up aluminum cans from the roadside and sell them (this is something you can get the whole family involved in), offer tutoring sessions, or have a garage sale (sell some of those things you bought with a credit card and you’re still paying for, but you hardly or rarely use them). Then, any money you earn (after paying your tithes) goes toward your debt reduction plan. Bottom line, debt is a result of out-of-control and undisciplined spending. Your lack of contentment with the affordable lifestyle at your present economic situation is the root cause for many of your unwise purchases. In Philippians 4:11-12 (Amplified), Paul wrote, “Not that I am implying that I was in any personal want, for I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am. I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want.” If you ever hope to be the master of your financial situation and never be under the bondage of debt, you must be content with the lifestyle you can currently afford, which means you must obtain and maintain biblical control and discipline over your spending (obtaining this control will be the subject of Part 9). If you would like more information, click on the Contact link and send us an email; someone will contact you shortly thereafter. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 9
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email address: wofl@wofl.org | ||
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