These are notes
taken from a sermon given by my pastor, Randy Nation as few months ago. These are mostly his words with some of my
own added. His message was entitled
“Debt or Freedom”. I call it “Who is your
Master?”
Our Mistake:
Have you ever
bought something you wished you had never bought? As most of us do at times we buy because get
talked into things we think we need or should have. That happened to us a few years ago when we
went on a vacation get-away for only $69.
It sounded like a good deal. We
went to beautiful Sedona. It was
breath-taking. When we arrived, we were
told we had to sit through a short sales pitch with no obligation to buy. Right!
We left with a Time Share. They
made us think this was something we must have and we were convinced. Bad mistake!
Yes, we used the
time share points each year and had great family vacations. However, every time we arrived at our
vacation resort we had to sit through another boring time consuming “update to
our time share account”. Each time they
tried to talk us into upgrading to a bigger and better time share. Of course we would say no thank you but
received a free dinner coupon for our trouble.
Also we received numerous sales calls at home – at least 3 a week wanting
to rent our points, give us another free vacation because we were an owner, buy
our time share, or something. This was
very aggravating and they would not stop!
I think our time share people put our names on a list and all these
calls were from others who wanted to benefit from a sucker like us. Also, did I mention we had yearly maintenance
fees that went up every year? My advice
is NEVER BUY A TIME SHARE!!
Several times we
tried to sell it, but all the companies seem to be a scam. They all wanted money to try to sell it for
us. Finally, we did sell it and took a
huge lose. I guess we learn by our
mistakes.
What is debt?
Debt is not a tool
– People say it’s a way to use other people’s money.
Debt can be an
idol – An idol is where we spend our energy.
Our credit card can be our idol.Debt plays to our weaknesses – We don’t have self-control. We are a slave to our Master Card.
Debt is our master – we can’t say “no”.
The world says
we are who we hang out with, where we live, what kind of car we drive,
etc. We want to keep up a good
appearance so we buy what we want when we want it. Proverbs
22:7 – “The
rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”
There are 2
kinds of slavery: (1) Imposed – we didn’t volunteer; (2) Selective – we
volunteered to be under someone. This is
what we’ve done. We sacrifice our family
for debt by arguing about money, worrying about money, and working more to pay
on the debt. Instead of saying, “Do I
need this or how much does it cost?” we say, “Can I afford the payments?” Debt is a cruel master.
Do you serve
God or Money? The Bible says we cannot serve two masters. 1
Timothy 6:10 – “For the love of money is a root of
all kinds of evil. Some people, eager
for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many
griefs.” There is freedom in
Christ. Which master do you serve? Credit cards are deceptive. When you make a purchase, they don’t remind
you will get a bill at the end of the month.
It’s liked being chained up. It
controls you like a weight around your neck.
Believe me there is grief when there is debt.
There are 4
aspects of debt: (1) Mentally it says I
will never be free. (2) Physically says
I desire it. (3) Emotionally says it
will make me happy. (4) Spiritually it says God isn’t taking good care of
me. People want to give more generously
to others, but there are tied up financially and mentally.
We need to wait
on God if we can’t afford something. The
average family debt is $8,000 – $15,000.
After paying the interest, you’ve paid it back 3 times over. Americans have an average of 3 ½ credit
cards. The divorce rate is 52% and
divorce in the first 7 years of marriage is 90%, because of money.
What can you do?
Romans 13:7-8 says “Give everyone
what you owe him: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if
respect then respect; if honor, then honor.
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one
another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” So bankruptcy is not the answer. One debt you won’t have to pay is the debt
you owe Christ. What happened to
that? The debt of sin had to be paid
and Jesus paid it for you. You can’t pay
that debt, because God is good!
We could be
victorious and do something about it. 1 John 4:4 – “You,
dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in
you is greater than the one who is in the world.” We have freedom in Christ. He paid our debt and will help us manage our
finances, if we will let Him. Just say
“I will do something about this” and ask God to help you. How can you fail? He will give you strength and wisdom. Why is it important? You can give to people in need and spend your
money on whatever you want. We own him
our allegiance. Allow God’s Holy Spirit
to control us. That’s the master we
want.
There is also
Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University which is usually is offered in
churches for a small fee. Dave also has
many books on the subject of debt and how to get out of it. He teaches you exactly what debt is, how to
get out of it, how to make a budget, how to save money and how to build wealth.
We need to be
content with what we have. Contentment
is real financial freedom. “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content
with what you have…” – Hebrews
13:5. Jesus talked more about money
that He did heaven or hell. There are
over 700 verses that talk about money in the Bible. Financial freedom is found as you apply the
biblical principle of work, investing, budgeting and avoiding debt in your
life. Every financial decision is a
spiritual decision and obedience in giving to God helps us remember to keep God
first in our finances. It’s not our
money; it all belongs to God. Make Him
your master.
