Finances, Frustration and Freedom March 18, 2009

If you are broke, in debt, upside down in a car payment and/or buried in credit card debt…it is MOST LIKELY because you, at some point, allowed selfishness and the desire to acquire take over your ability to make a rational, Spirit filled decision.

(I know there are exceptions to the above…however, in my 20 years of ministry I have discovered that those exceptions are rare!  Trust me…at one point I was all of the above!  I posted about my dumbest financial mistakes quite a while back–here is part one of the series…and here is part two.)

One of the frustrations I have as a pastor is when people want to blame external circumstances for internal disobedience.  Especially in America…EVERYONE is blaming SOMEONE for their financial condition.  (Heck, for every condition…fat people are suing McDonalds for making them fat…anyone see a problem here?)  Nothing is our fault.  BUT…

I believe that financial freedom will never take place in a persons life until they are willing to accept personal responsibility for where they are…and then make the hard decisions and sacrifices necessary to climb out of the financial hole they have dug. 

God has HUGE dreams and plans for our lives…unfortunately many people limit “God’s dreams” to driving a certain type of car or living in a certain neighborhood…and because of that they dive into a debt hole all in the name of Jesus.

I believe it makes Him sick!  (See Matthew 6:19-24.)

Proverbs 22:7 says the borrower is a SERVANT to the lender…but, as followers of Jesus Christ we are to serve Him alone.  We can’t serve Jesus with all our hearts and also serve Visa at the same time!

So…what do we do about it?

Great question…I highly suggest you do WHATEVER it takes to get to the Financial Learning Experience that NewSpring Church will be offering next week.  (You can go here to sign up!!!)  The class is FREE…but you need to sign up so we can make sure we provide the best experience possible for you!  It will be held at:

  • Anderson Campus, Tuesday March 24, 6:30 – 8:30
  • Florence Campus, Wednesday March 25, 6:30 – 8:30
  • Greenville Campus, Thursday, March 26, 6:30 – 8:30

In this class taught by Joe Sangl you will learn how to…

  • Develop a plan for one’s life
  • Create a budget that works
  • Eliminate debt
  • Calculate debt freedom date
  • Calculate amount needed for retirement
  • Power of compound interest

One of the biggest problems that people have when it comes to finances is that they have no plan…and because of that they’ve bought into the world’s plan, “buy now, pay later.”  BTW…it hasn’t worked very well!!!

To steal a line from Andy Stanley…when it comes to finances we here at NewSpring Church don’t want a thing from you…we want something FOR you….

  • We want FOR you to live in freedom, not held in the bondage of debt.
  • We want FOR you to be able to provide a future for your children…instead of hoping they will provide one for you!
  • We want FOR you to honor Jesus Christ with every financial decision you make…because God’s Word is so clear that until He has our money He doesn’t fully have our hearts.

One more time…here is the link for the class.  DO IT!  Seriously!  YES, it will take discipline.  YES, you will have to admit where you are financially…but when we put God first and get out of debt there is tremendous freedom!!!

Tagged: Finances