How to get out of debt, pt. 1

The way the economy is going, life is getting increasingly diffi­cult and the financial forecast doesn’t look very promising ei­ther. It’s obvious that things are about to get worse, but, how does God weigh in on all of this? Does He care about finances and does He offer any practical solutions to the problem of debt? Well first of all, Jesus spoke more about money than any other subject in the Bible. I know that’s shocking, but it’s true.

I believe Jesus highlighted the money issue because He knows that debt and poverty are manifestations of the kingdom of Satan. They are curses that are often carried down from generation to generation. Through money, the enemy attempts to control and hinder our lifestyles and ultimately our destiny.

It’s amazing how many of us are scrambling every day just to get enough money to live on, leaving us very little time for God. How ironic, since God is the true source of our lives! Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Let’s look at a few God-inspired principles to help alleviate debt and poverty in our lives. They are not in any particular order, but they point the way to apprehend God’s plan and strategy for us.

1. Believe He is a debt-canceling God. Mark 11:24 says,”Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” He cancelled all of our debts on His cross two thousand years ago. In other words, believe that God wants to deliver you from poverty and cancel your debt. Nothing happens unless we believe.

2. All poverty and debt originates from sin. Any time you or your ancestors trusted in money and wealth to meet needs instead of God—that’s sin. First Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sor­rows.”

Identify with the source of that sin, repent in the place of your ancestors and then repent for personal participation in that sin in your own life. Debt and poverty must be cut off at the root in order to break that cycle in your life. These two steps of identifica­tion and repentance are foundational to getting out of debt. For further explanation of this, please go to our website www.BreakingFreeCC.com and contact our office.

3. Review your spending habits: Is God in the decision-making when it comes to your spending habits? Many of us don’t allow God to be Lord over this area and we spend according to the lust of our flesh, not the leading of the Holy Spirit. If we examined our spending habits every day, we’d learn some shocking truths about our own heart.

List all of your spending for seven days, bring them before the Lord in prayer and ask Him if there needs to be any changes. If you’re sincere, you will probably see that radical change is necessary. That’s a good time to ask God’s forgiveness for your idolatry (putting money ahead of God).

These steps reveal your true desire to have poverty and debt broken over your life. A lot of us talk a good talk, but when it comes down to it, that’s all it is—talk. Getting out of debt requires a radical change in our view of money and our under­standing of God’s desire to be God (the only source) in and over our lives. We will continue this series next week.

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